No General Descriptions provided.
| nominal allegiance to [---] |
| Igboland |
| British Empire |
| 3,500 km2 |
| nominal |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred Transitional (Absent -> Present) | 1043 CE 1499 CE |
| present | 1500 CE 1911 CE |
| inferred present |
| Year Range | Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì (ni_nri_k) was in: |
|---|
Sources searched do not refer to a ‘capital’ of the Nri Kingdom, but it seems Igbo-Ukwu was the base of the eze Nri. There are doubts about the significance of the finds at Igbo-Ukwu and whether they indicate that this was a significant population, ritual and power centre for the Nri. “Historical ethnography indicates that Igbo-Ukwu flourished under the patronage of the Eze Nri institution.” [1] “At this stage any suggestions must be tentative, especially since on the local side it is still very unclear - and will remain so unless the site of Igbo-Ukwu can be re-examined in a radically novel way - whether the location excavated by Shaw was no more than a burial shrine or priest’s abode secluded in the forest, or whether contrarily it was part of a real town of that period with an industrial quarter. Either way, it is acknowledged that the manufacture and burial of so many exquisite objects, most of them essentially non-utilitarian, must be of religious and social significance, as well as economic.” [2] “Some Igbo communities, especially trading cities along the Niger like Onitsha and Oguta (Nzimiro 1972) and the ’holy city’ of Nri (Afigbo 1981:31-68) had elaborated chieftaincy institutions in pre-colonial times.” [3] “It is in this heartland that the holy centre of Nm grew up, and the ancient treasures of Igbo-Ukwu were discovered. At its greatest extent the Nri sphere of influence covered perhaps half of Igboland; nevertheless, it constituted its ritual heart, like Ife, among the Yoruba.” [4]
[1]: Ogundiran, A. (2005). Four Millennia of Cultural History in Nigeria (ca. 2000 B.C.—A.D. 1900): Archaeological Perspectives. Journal of World Prehistory, 19(2), 133–168: 148. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PK7F26DP/collection
[2]: Sutton, J. E. G. (1991). The International Factor at Igbo-Ukwu. The African Archaeological Review, 9, 145–160: 149. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HBPMUV6T/collection
[3]: Harneit-Sievers, A. (1998). Igbo ‘Traditional Rulers’: Chieftaincy and the State in Southeastern Nigeria. Africa Spectrum, 33(1), 57–79: 59. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TUHHXK22/collection
[4]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
Sources searched do not refer to a ‘capital’ of the Nri Kingdom, but it seems Igbo-Ukwu was the base of the eze Nri. There are doubts about the significance of the finds at Igbo-Ukwu and whether they indicate that this was a significant population, ritual and power centre for the Nri. “Historical ethnography indicates that Igbo-Ukwu flourished under the patronage of the Eze Nri institution.” [1] “At this stage any suggestions must be tentative, especially since on the local side it is still very unclear - and will remain so unless the site of Igbo-Ukwu can be re-examined in a radically novel way - whether the location excavated by Shaw was no more than a burial shrine or priest’s abode secluded in the forest, or whether contrarily it was part of a real town of that period with an industrial quarter. Either way, it is acknowledged that the manufacture and burial of so many exquisite objects, most of them essentially non-utilitarian, must be of religious and social significance, as well as economic.” [2] “Some Igbo communities, especially trading cities along the Niger like Onitsha and Oguta (Nzimiro 1972) and the ’holy city’ of Nri (Afigbo 1981:31-68) had elaborated chieftaincy institutions in pre-colonial times.” [3] “It is in this heartland that the holy centre of Nm grew up, and the ancient treasures of Igbo-Ukwu were discovered. At its greatest extent the Nri sphere of influence covered perhaps half of Igboland; nevertheless, it constituted its ritual heart, like Ife, among the Yoruba.” [4]
[1]: Ogundiran, A. (2005). Four Millennia of Cultural History in Nigeria (ca. 2000 B.C.—A.D. 1900): Archaeological Perspectives. Journal of World Prehistory, 19(2), 133–168: 148. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PK7F26DP/collection
[2]: Sutton, J. E. G. (1991). The International Factor at Igbo-Ukwu. The African Archaeological Review, 9, 145–160: 149. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HBPMUV6T/collection
[3]: Harneit-Sievers, A. (1998). Igbo ‘Traditional Rulers’: Chieftaincy and the State in Southeastern Nigeria. Africa Spectrum, 33(1), 57–79: 59. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TUHHXK22/collection
[4]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
Suggests twelfth to fifteenth centuries as peak of the spread of Nri lineages: “The proliferation and spread of Nri lineages with the spread of Nri hegemony is another example of lineage migration; they were established by a few men in most of the older Igbo settlements. Nri political and ritual activities, in Ozo title, cleansing of abomination, yam growth, abrogation of rituals and rules of taboo and avoidance, led to the invitation of Nri people to their midst, such an arrangement had political consequences, including annual tribute to the Eze Nri (see Nwankwo’s description in her article in number 2 the Odinani (Journal). Nri men residing abroad were the Eze’s ’eyes and ears’, manipulating internal and external settlement affairs through the visits of itinerant Nri (Onwuejeogwu 1972, 1974, 1975). These methods of political and ritual agency might have started in the 9th century, increasing through the 12th to 15th centuries and declining until collapse on the British ban of Nri activities in 1911.” [1] “The Nri sphere of ritual influence was probably at its greatest between 1100 and 1400.” [2]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1979). The Genesis, Diffusion, Structure and Significance of Ọzọ Title in Igbo Land. Paideuma, 25, 117–143: 127. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/K2EIJVZ8/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
There is mention (unreferenced) in some sources to the Kingdom of Nri extending back as far as 900CE based on the archaeological finds at Igbo-Ukwu; however, this early date is disputed (see below). The Ngara source cited below is the only one to mention a specific date in the available scholarship. “The Kingdom of Nri (1043–1911) was the West African medieval state of the NriIgbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria.” [1] “In 1938, a farmer was digging a cistern in his compound at Igbo-Ukwu, nine miles from Nri, when he stumbled upon remarkable bronze sculptures. More than twenty years elapsed before the area was professionally excavated, and much longer before the excavations were published. When they were, they revealed the existence of a hitherto unsuspected Igbo Bronze Age in the ninth century CE. The dating did not go unchallenged, but it has never been disproved. Many of the finds — which included a treasure hoard and a dignitary buried in a sitting position in a wood-lined chamber, with slaves and valuables — were immediately explicable in terms of later Nn culture. A bronze depicts a woman with ichi facial scars; only one woman had these scars — the eldest daughter of the Eze Nri. The” [2] “This ritual pre-eminence is the reward for Nri’s original distribution of the food he had acquired at such great cost. The four-day week and its associated markets were brought by strangers bearing baskets of fish - a condensed symbolic statement of the beginnings of trade between the landlocked Igbo and Niger Delta fishermen (and salt processors). In 1911, the names of nineteen Nri were recorded. The list is not easy to translate into chronological terms, partly because of the long interregna.” [2]
[1]: Ngara, C. A. (n.d.). An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25: 11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 247. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
“The Kingdom of Nri (1043–1911) was the West African medieval state of the NriIgbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over much of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called the eze Nri. The eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Igbo people, and was the possessor of divine authority in religious matters.” [1] “It has been argued that the "pervasive ritual" icons in the Igbo-Ukwu material served "to project aspects of the pivotal role of the priest-king within Nri Igbo life and thought" (Ray, 1987, p. 77). The "combination of fear, belief, supernatural sanctions, and fines that typically accompany ritual" seem to have been an integral part of "securing compliant behavior and resolving disputes" in the foundations of sociopolitical development in Igboland (Mclntosh, 1999, p. 12).” [2]
[1]: Ngara, C. A. (n.d.). An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25:11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection
[2]: Ogundiran, A. (2005). Four Millennia of Cultural History in Nigeria (ca. 2000 B.C.—A.D. 1900): Archaeological Perspectives. Journal of World Prehistory, 19(2), 133–168: 148. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PK7F26DP/collection
Sometimes referred to as the Igbo Cultural Area (I.C.A.). “Beyond this veil of divergence in tradition and ecology lies a basic Igbo culture characterized by similarities in language, institutions and religious and cosmological beliefs. Religion played a major unifying role in the area of Igbo culture. An aspect of this is the hitherto unquestioned priestly role of the Nri and, on their eclipse, some major oracles. Nri is a small town in the Northern Igbo area whose king, Eze Nri, according to tradition, secured considerable concessions from God (Chukwu) for providing mankind with food, especially yam. The widespread desire for Nri religious services led to the development of a hegemony based on ritualism as opposed to militarism. Nri priestly lineages emerged in most of Igboland, and some exist to this day.” [1] “Mr D. M. W. Jeffreys wrote early in the 1930s as follows: ‘In the past it has been advanced that all the Igbo were descended from this group (the Nri). This statement confuses the origin of a culture with the origin of a people.’ In his view what happened was that the Nri spread their culture to the rest of Igbo land rather than founded all Igbo communities.” [2]
[1]: Ejidike, O. M. (1999). Human Rights in the Cultural Traditions and Social Practice of the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 43(1), 71–98: 74. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7CMJSBJH/collection
[2]: Afigbo, A. E. (1981). Nsukka Before 1916: The Making of a Frontier Igbo Society. In Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (pp. 69–121). University Press in association with Oxford University Press: 74–75. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/STBG9I9N/collection
“Especially the case of Nri has fuelled both academic and popular imagination, because the stirring archaeological findings at Igbo-Ukwu seem to suggest to some authors (especially Onwuejeogwu 1980, 1981; see also Hahn-Waanders 1985, Grau 1993) the existence of a one thousand year-old tradition of Nri sacral kingship and ’hegemony’ over large parts of Igboland.” [1] “As regards these leadership positions, a common feature is their high degree of local diversity, in two ways: First, the rules by which an individual obtained a position differed from place to place. Second, while certain Igbo communities (especially Nri and Arochukwu) exerted a certain wide-range commercial or ritual influence, the leaders even of these communities did not exert direct power outside of their own community.” [2] “The Kingdom of Nri (1043–1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri Igbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over much of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called the eze Nri. The eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Igbo people, and was the possessor of divine authority in religious matters.” [3]
[1]: Harneit-Sievers, A. (1998). Igbo ‘Traditional Rulers’: Chieftaincy and the State in Southeastern Nigeria. Africa Spectrum, 33(1), 57–79: 59–60. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TUHHXK22/collection
[2]: Harneit-Sievers, A. (1998). Igbo ‘Traditional Rulers’: Chieftaincy and the State in Southeastern Nigeria. Africa Spectrum, 33(1), 57–79: 60. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TUHHXK22/collection
[3]: Ngara, C. A. (n.d.). An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25:11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection
WALS classification. “Linguistically, the Igbo belong to the Kwa sub-family of the Niger-Congo languages. Socio-culturally and linguistically, the Igbo could be further divided into four groups: the northern Igbo, the western Igbo, the north-eastern Igbo and the eastern Igbo.” [1]
[1]: Ejidike, O. M. (1999). Human Rights in the Cultural Traditions and Social Practice of the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 43(1), 71–98: 74. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7CMJSBJH/collection
The dominant linguistic group in the area is Igbo, but this has many dialects and varieties. It appears there may be a dialectal variety called Nri, but it is unclear whether this is a distinct language from Igbo, or a variant of it, and whether this is exclusive to those people identifying as Nri. WALS does not include Nri, only Igbo. “Linguistically, the Igbo belong to the Kwa sub-family of the Niger-Congo languages. Socio-culturally and linguistically, the Igbo could be further divided into four groups: the northern Igbo, the western Igbo, the north-eastern Igbo and the eastern Igbo.” [1] “The Kwa-speaking region is broadly identical with the yam belt. It includes Igbo, Igala, Idoma, Ijo, Yoruba, the Aja languages (Ewe, Fon and Gun) and the Akan languages.” [2] “In Nri ’cloth wrapped round the waist’ is akwa, ogodu ’cloth worn’ is efe. In Ibusa only elders know that ’cloth wrapped round the waist’ is ogodu, otherwise all ’cloth’ is called akwa by younger people.” [3]
[1]: Ejidike, O. M. (1999). Human Rights in the Cultural Traditions and Social Practice of the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 43(1), 71–98: 74. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7CMJSBJH/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 244. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
[3]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 12. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
The dominant linguistic group in the area is Igbo, but this has many dialects and varieties. It appears there may be a dialectal variety called Nri, but it is unclear whether this is a distinct language from Igbo, or a variant of it, and whether this is exclusive to those people identifying as Nri. WALS does not include Nri, only Igbo. “Linguistically, the Igbo belong to the Kwa sub-family of the Niger-Congo languages. Socio-culturally and linguistically, the Igbo could be further divided into four groups: the northern Igbo, the western Igbo, the north-eastern Igbo and the eastern Igbo.” [1] “The Kwa-speaking region is broadly identical with the yam belt. It includes Igbo, Igala, Idoma, Ijo, Yoruba, the Aja languages (Ewe, Fon and Gun) and the Akan languages.” [2] “In Nri ’cloth wrapped round the waist’ is akwa, ogodu ’cloth worn’ is efe. In Ibusa only elders know that ’cloth wrapped round the waist’ is ogodu, otherwise all ’cloth’ is called akwa by younger people.” [3]
[1]: Ejidike, O. M. (1999). Human Rights in the Cultural Traditions and Social Practice of the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 43(1), 71–98: 74. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7CMJSBJH/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 244. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
[3]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 12. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
“So Igbo beliefs about pollutions are closely bound up with the cosmic order. Here I will present a brief description of this order as the Igbo see it, and show the link of its different structures with pollution. The world-view described here is the model shared by Igbo communities found mainly in the northern and western parts of Igboland which are under the ritual authority of Eze Nri (king of Nri), whose authority rests solely on his ability to institute, abrogate, and cleanse pollutions.” [1] “Beyond this veil of divergence in tradition and ecology lies a basic Igbo culture characterized by similarities in language, institutions and religious and cosmological beliefs. Religion played a major unifying role in the area of Igbo culture. An aspect of this is the hitherto unquestioned priestly role of the Nri and, on their eclipse, some major oracles. Nri is a small town in the Northern Igbo area whose king, Eze Nri, according to tradition, secured considerable concessions from God (Chukwu) for providing mankind with food, especially yam. The widespread desire for Nri religious services led to the development of a hegemony based on ritualism as opposed to militarism. Nri priestly lineages emerged in most of Igboland, and some exist to this day.” [2] “Igbo also recognize stratifications in both worlds. Chukwu is the great creator and manifests his existence in a quadripartite manner. First, as the creator of all things, okike. Secondly, He is the source of fertility, agbala. Thirdly, He is the source of light and knowledge, anyanwu. Finally, He is the source of procreation, character and individual prowess, chi. Chukwu created other powerful supernatural forces and beings which are given responsibility for various spheres of human endeavour, such as agriculture, divination and medicine. It is believed that the supernatural forces control earthly matters. The result of medical treatments or agricultural activities is determined by the disposition of extra-terrestrial forces. The spirit world is the transient abode of the living after their death and is in constant contact with the mundane. The dead join their ancestors in the spirit world and, through their reincarnation, the mundane world is peopled.” [3] “The Eze Nri (priest-kings of Nri) claim for themselves a status equivalent to that of the spirits. Every reigning Eze Nri is embued with the spirit of Eri, his first ancestor, who was sent down by Chukwu from heaven to organize the world. Eri dried up the water which covered the earth and thus organized the physical world. By sacrificing his son and daughter, he obtained yams and cocoyams, the main food and cash crop of the Igbo, thus introducing agriculture and agricultural rituals. He introduced ichi scarification, and the ozo chiefly-title system, thus reorganizing social life. Finally, he organized economic life by introducing the four Igbo market days. The powers received by Eri from Chukwu include the ritual powers to control the worship of Ala who controls agriculture, Ife-jioku the yam deity, and Eke, Oye, Afor, and Nkwo, deities of the four Igbo market days of the same name. He has the ritual powers to establish, cleanse, and abrogate prohibitions connected with their cult. As symbols of his authority, Eri received from Chukwu the ofo (ritual staff) and the otonsi (ritual spear) used for the rites of establishing or cleansing alu (pollutions). Ofo-carrying Nri priests still visit or settle among different Igbo communities to provide pollution cleansing services. In Nri town itself, the cleansing rites are performed by the Ezeana, in the presence of Eze Nri who as a spirit never offers sacrifices.” [4] “The Nri sphere of ritual influence was probably at its greatest between 1100 and 1400. Nri ritual specialists, distinguished by their facial scars (which are shown in several Igbo-Ukwu sculptures) and by their ritual staffs of peace, travelled far afield, purifying the earth from human crimes and introducing a variety of ritual practices, including the ozo title system, and ikenga, the cult of the right hand, ‘with which a person works out a successful living in this difficult world’.” [5]
[1]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection
[2]: Ejidike, O. M. (1999). Human Rights in the Cultural Traditions and Social Practice of the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 43(1), 71–98: 74. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7CMJSBJH/collection
[3]: Ejidike, O. M. (1999). Human Rights in the Cultural Traditions and Social Practice of the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 43(1), 71–98: 75. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7CMJSBJH/collection
[4]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7–8. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection
[5]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 247. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
“So Igbo beliefs about pollutions are closely bound up with the cosmic order. Here I will present a brief description of this order as the Igbo see it, and show the link of its different structures with pollution. The world-view described here is the model shared by Igbo communities found mainly in the northern and western parts of Igboland which are under the ritual authority of Eze Nri (king of Nri), whose authority rests solely on his ability to institute, abrogate, and cleanse pollutions.” [1] “Beyond this veil of divergence in tradition and ecology lies a basic Igbo culture characterized by similarities in language, institutions and religious and cosmological beliefs. Religion played a major unifying role in the area of Igbo culture. An aspect of this is the hitherto unquestioned priestly role of the Nri and, on their eclipse, some major oracles. Nri is a small town in the Northern Igbo area whose king, Eze Nri, according to tradition, secured considerable concessions from God (Chukwu) for providing mankind with food, especially yam. The widespread desire for Nri religious services led to the development of a hegemony based on ritualism as opposed to militarism. Nri priestly lineages emerged in most of Igboland, and some exist to this day.” [2] “Igbo also recognize stratifications in both worlds. Chukwu is the great creator and manifests his existence in a quadripartite manner. First, as the creator of all things, okike. Secondly, He is the source of fertility, agbala. Thirdly, He is the source of light and knowledge, anyanwu. Finally, He is the source of procreation, character and individual prowess, chi. Chukwu created other powerful supernatural forces and beings which are given responsibility for various spheres of human endeavour, such as agriculture, divination and medicine. It is believed that the supernatural forces control earthly matters. The result of medical treatments or agricultural activities is determined by the disposition of extra-terrestrial forces. The spirit world is the transient abode of the living after their death and is in constant contact with the mundane. The dead join their ancestors in the spirit world and, through their reincarnation, the mundane world is peopled.” [3] “The Eze Nri (priest-kings of Nri) claim for themselves a status equivalent to that of the spirits. Every reigning Eze Nri is embued with the spirit of Eri, his first ancestor, who was sent down by Chukwu from heaven to organize the world. Eri dried up the water which covered the earth and thus organized the physical world. By sacrificing his son and daughter, he obtained yams and cocoyams, the main food and cash crop of the Igbo, thus introducing agriculture and agricultural rituals. He introduced ichi scarification, and the ozo chiefly-title system, thus reorganizing social life. Finally, he organized economic life by introducing the four Igbo market days. The powers received by Eri from Chukwu include the ritual powers to control the worship of Ala who controls agriculture, Ife-jioku the yam deity, and Eke, Oye, Afor, and Nkwo, deities of the four Igbo market days of the same name. He has the ritual powers to establish, cleanse, and abrogate prohibitions connected with their cult. As symbols of his authority, Eri received from Chukwu the ofo (ritual staff) and the otonsi (ritual spear) used for the rites of establishing or cleansing alu (pollutions). Ofo-carrying Nri priests still visit or settle among different Igbo communities to provide pollution cleansing services. In Nri town itself, the cleansing rites are performed by the Ezeana, in the presence of Eze Nri who as a spirit never offers sacrifices.” [4] “The Nri sphere of ritual influence was probably at its greatest between 1100 and 1400. Nri ritual specialists, distinguished by their facial scars (which are shown in several Igbo-Ukwu sculptures) and by their ritual staffs of peace, travelled far afield, purifying the earth from human crimes and introducing a variety of ritual practices, including the ozo title system, and ikenga, the cult of the right hand, ‘with which a person works out a successful living in this difficult world’.” [5]
[1]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection
[2]: Ejidike, O. M. (1999). Human Rights in the Cultural Traditions and Social Practice of the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 43(1), 71–98: 74. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7CMJSBJH/collection
[3]: Ejidike, O. M. (1999). Human Rights in the Cultural Traditions and Social Practice of the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 43(1), 71–98: 75. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7CMJSBJH/collection
[4]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7–8. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection
[5]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 247. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
levels. 1) City, 2) Town, 3) Nucleated settlement group, 4) Village. Note that, though Nri and Igbo-Ukwu are referred to in the scholarship as cities (eg title of Afigbo, A. E. (1981). The Holy City of Nri. In Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (pp. 31–68). University Press in association with Oxford University Press), there is no undeniable evidence that eg the finds at Igbo-Ukwu are proof that is was actually a town or city. “At this stage any suggestions must be tentative, especially since on the local side it is still very unclear - and will remain so unless the site of Igbo-Ukwu can be re-examined in a radically novel way - whether the location excavated by Shaw was no more than a burial shrine or priest’s abode secluded in the forest, or whether contrarily it was part of a real town of that period with an industrial quarter. Either way, it is acknowledged that the manufacture and burial of so many exquisite objects, most of them essentially non-utilitarian, must be of religious and social significance, as well as economic.” [1] “In modern times — and undoubtedly much earlier — the eastern Igbo lived in village groups; although the area is now one of the most densely populated rural areas in Africa, this is not apparent, and scattered homes are surrounded by the ubiquitous oil palm and other indigenous and introduced trees that have economic value. They derived their common identity from maps in the mind, which traced their origin to a putative ancestor. The western Igbo, who also traced their descent to an apical ancestor, lived in nucleated settlements. The genealogical calculus was mirrored in the organisation of space, each quarter tracing its origin to a son or grandson of the founder. The idiom of genealogy was an extremely precise guide to relationships at all levels — within the village, and between the independent communities which comprised the village group and the wider ‘clan’, and an inherent flexibility made it possible to incorporate strangers. There was an evident need to find a beginning in an otherwise endless chain of father-son successions, and this is found in the myth of the stranger from elsewhere — the earth or the sky, or a hunter from far away.” [2] “Three categories of tradition emerged from my collections of oral history in the oldest settlements like Agbo, Nri, Owere, etc., and the newer ones of Asaba, Ibusa, Ndikeluonwu, etc.: autochthony, amnesia, and certainty, ’Autochthony’ is the claim of origin from the spot of present habitation, by a maximal lineage with a name like Umudiani or Umu dim ’sons of the earth’; today part of a larger settlement. The Nri Umu di ani lineages perform specific ritual functions in the Eze’s coronation, and in cleansing abominatiin in the town. Their genealogy is as deep as generations before the present elders.” [3] “Some Igbo communities, especially trading cities along the Niger like Onitsha and Oguta (Nzimiro 1972) and the ’holy city’ of Nri (Afigbo 1981:31-68) had elaborated chieftaincy institutions in pre-colonial times.” [4]
[1]: Sutton, J. E. G. (1991). The International Factor at Igbo-Ukwu. The African Archaeological Review, 9, 145–160: 149. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HBPMUV6T/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 248. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
[3]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1979). The Genesis, Diffusion, Structure and Significance of Ọzọ Title in Igbo Land. Paideuma, 25, 117–143: 119. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/K2EIJVZ8/collection
[4]: Harneit-Sievers, A. (1998). Igbo ‘Traditional Rulers’: Chieftaincy and the State in Southeastern Nigeria. Africa Spectrum, 33(1), 57–79: 59. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TUHHXK22/collection
levels. 1) Eze Nri (priest-king), 2) Ezeana (chief priest), 3) Ofo-carrying Nri priests. “Probably the more enduring contacts and interactions between the two predated the rise of Bini to imperial greatness, going back to those quieter days when Nri priests moved from one corner of the globe to the other (eluwa dum) spreading the gospel that they came down from the sky and that Chukwu had empowered them to crown kings, make yam medicine, remove nso, control the agricultural calendar and make peace in return for giving yam and other food crops to all peoples.” [1] “The Eze Nri (priest-kings of Nri) claim for themselves a status equivalent to that of the spirits. Every reigning Eze Nri is embued with the spirit of Eri, his first ancestor, who was sent down by Chukwu from heaven to organize the world. Eri dried up the water which covered the earth and thus organized the physical world. By sacrificing his son and daughter, he obtained yams and cocoyams, the main food and cash crop of the Igbo, thus introducing agriculture and agricultural rituals. He introduced ichi scarification, and the ozo chiefly-title system, thus reorganizing social life. Finally, he organized economic life by introducing the four Igbo market days.” [2] “The powers received by Eri from Chukwu include the ritual powers to control the worship of Ala who controls agriculture, Ife-jioku the yam deity, and Eke, Oye, Afor, and Nkwo, deities of the four Igbo market days of the same name. He has the ritual powers to establish, cleanse, and abrogate prohibitions connected with their cult. As symbols of his authority, Eri received from Chukwu the ofo (ritual staff) and the otonsi (ritual spear) used for the rites of establishing or cleansing alu (pollutions). Ofo-carrying Nri priests still visit or settle among different Igbo communities to provide pollution cleansing services. In Nri town itself, the cleansing rites are performed by the Ezeana, in the presence of Eze Nri who as a spirit never offers sacrifices.” [3]
[1]: Afigbo, A. E. (1996). The Anthropology and Historiography of Central-South Nigeria before and since Igbo-Ukwu. History in Africa, 23, 1–15: 11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GHMXKX6X/collection
[2]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection
[3]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7-8. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection
levels. There were likely military roles in specific communities, but not on the polity level. “The Kingdom of Nri (1043–1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri Igbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over much of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called the eze Nri. The eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Igbo people, and was the possessor of divine authority in religious matters.” [1] “Although bloodshed is inherent in this historical charter, for many centuries the people of Nri have had a strong commitment to peace, rooted in the belief that it is an abomination to pollute the sacred Earth. “The white men that came started by killing those who did not agree with their rules. We Nri never did so”.” [2]
[1]: Ngara, C. A. (n.d.). An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25:11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
levels. 1) state level (eg Eze Nri), 2) lineage level (eg Ozo), 3) age-grade level, 4) women’s associations. Within each of these four major levels (not necessarily a clear hierarchy) there are finer distinctions, but these are the major categories. This paper delineates the fine detail: “In Nri, leadership operates at four levels and may be classified according to these levels as: leadership at the age-grade level, leadership at the lineage level, leadership at the state level and leadership in women’s associations.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1979). The Genesis, Diffusion, Structure and Significance of Ọzọ Title in Igbo Land. Paideuma, 25, 117–143: 130. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/K2EIJVZ8/collection
“The Kingdom of Nri (1043–1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri Igbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects.” [1] “Although bloodshed is inherent in this historical charter, for many centuries the people of Nri have had a strong commitment to peace, rooted in the belief that it is an abomination to pollute the sacred Earth. “The white men that came started by killing those who did not agree with their rules. We Nri never did so”.” [2]
[1]: Ngara, C. A. (n.d.). An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25:11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
“Probably the more enduring contacts and interactions between the two predated the rise of Bini to imperial greatness, going back to those quieter days when Nri priests moved from one corner of the globe to the other (eluwa dum) spreading the gospel that they came down from the sky and that Chukwu had empowered them to crown kings, make yam medicine, remove nso, control the agricultural calendar and make peace in return for giving yam and other food crops to all peoples.” [1]
[1]: Afigbo, A. E. (1996). The Anthropology and Historiography of Central-South Nigeria before and since Igbo-Ukwu. History in Africa, 23, 1–15: 11.
“The Kingdom of Nri (1043–1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri Igbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects.” [1] “Although bloodshed is inherent in this historical charter, for many centuries the people of Nri have had a strong commitment to peace, rooted in the belief that it is an abomination to pollute the sacred Earth. “The white men that came started by killing those who did not agree with their rules. We Nri never did so”.” [2]
[1]: Ngara, C. A. (n.d.). An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25:11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
“The paramouncy of Ala in Igbo cosmology, and the dominant role she played in defining the moral codes of governance and political order have been noted by Uchendu, P. A. Talbot, G.H. Jones and many others. C. K Meek was then right when he stated that: Ala was the fountain of human morality, and in consequence, a principal legal sanction. Homicide, kidnapping, poisoning and stealing, adultery and all offenses against Ala must be purged by rites to her. Ala [deprives] evil men of their lives, and her priests [are] the guardians of public morality. Laws [are] made in her name and by her oaths [are] sworn. Ala [is] in fact the unseen president of the community. Ala served other legal functions. As an example, boundaries of lineage and village lands were demarcated with mounds or perennial trees representing her, and it was a taboo for anyone to destroy them. It is noteworthy that laws of Ala were not confined to only humans. They encompassed the lower animals that thrive on earth.” [1]
[1]: Oriji, J. (2007). The End of Sacred Authority and the Genesis of Amorality and Disorder in Igbo Mini States. Dialectical Anthropology, 31(1/3), 263–288: 270. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/46MVQP3M/collection
“The Eze Nri (priest-kings of Nri) claim for themselves a status equivalent to that of the spirits. Every reigning Eze Nri is embued with the spirit of Eri, his first ancestor, who was sent down by Chukwu from heaven to organize the world. Eri dried up the water which covered the earth and thus organized the physical world. By sacrificing his son and daughter, he obtained yams and cocoyams, the main food and cash crop of the Igbo, thus introducing agriculture and agricultural rituals. He introduced ichi scarification, and the eze chiefly-title system, thus reorganizing social life. Finally, he organized economic life by introducing the four Igbo market days.” [1] “In an agricultural society concerned with fertility of humans, plants and animals, the importance of the earth-goddess and her priest cannot be overemphasized. Consistent efforts were, therefore, made to appease Ala, and her priest had to carry out ritual propitiation ceremonies of the goddess on every market day of the four-day Igbo week, ize muo.” [2]
[1]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection
[2]: Oriji, J. (2007). The End of Sacred Authority and the Genesis of Amorality and Disorder in Igbo Mini States. Dialectical Anthropology, 31(1/3), 263–288: 270. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/46MVQP3M/collection
Markets. “The Eze Nri (priest-kings of Nri) claim for themselves a status equivalent to that of the spirits. Every reigning Eze Nri is embued with the spirit of Eri, his first ancestor, who was sent down by Chukwu from heaven to organize the world. Eri dried up the water which covered the earth and thus organized the physical world. By sacrificing his son and daughter, he obtained yams and cocoyams, the main food and cash crop of the Igbo, thus introducing agriculture and agricultural rituals. He introduced ichi scarification, and the eze chiefly-title system, thus reorganizing social life. Finally, he organized economic life by introducing the four Igbo market days.” [1] “In an agricultural society concerned with fertility of humans, plants and animals, the importance of the earth-goddess and her priest cannot be overemphasized. Consistent efforts were, therefore, made to appease Ala, and her priest had to carry out ritual propitiation ceremonies of the goddess on every market day of the four-day Igbo week, ize muo.” [2]
[1]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection
[2]: Oriji, J. (2007). The End of Sacred Authority and the Genesis of Amorality and Disorder in Igbo Mini States. Dialectical Anthropology, 31(1/3), 263–288: 270. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/46MVQP3M/collection
“The mbari houses of the Owerri Igbo are not dwellings but collections of clay sculpture, part of the Earth cult; once completed, they were allowed to crumble away.” [1]
[1]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 248. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
Not certain whether mines/quarries were within the boundaries of the Nri Kingdom, but seems to be implied. “The officers of Eze Nri also used their wealth and status as ritual specialists to recruit and maintain numerous miners, craftsmen, and artists among others.” [1] “The Igbo-Ukwu excavations suggested that the institution of sacred kingship, which still flourishes at Nr and among the riverain and western Igbo, was much older than could have been deduced from oral tradition alone. The finds yielded evidence of a hitherto unsuspected involvement in international trade, hundreds of miles from the southern termini of the Saharan routes: there was a great treasury of beads, some of glass and some of carnelian, many of which seem to have originated in Venice and India. Much research has been devoted to the raw materials used in the sculptures: tin bronze and leaded tin bronze, which may have been obtained in ancient mines in Abakaliki in eastern Igboland.” [2]
[1]: Ogundiran, A. (2005). Four Millennia of Cultural History in Nigeria (ca. 2000 B.C.—A.D. 1900): Archaeological Perspectives. Journal of World Prehistory, 19(2), 133–168: 148. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PK7F26DP/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 247. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
“Onwuejeogwu states that (1981:114 & 87) “in the first level only the temple of Uga was formed. It was the temple of Eri, in Aguleri. All successors to the throne of Eze Nri must visit the temple of Uga during the coronation to perform the rituals of presentation, re-enactment and integration”, and this is done “in order to receive blessings from Eri and to collect a lump of clay brought from the bottom of the Anambra river which would be used for making the shrine of Nri, Menri”. He argues that “the political significance of the temple is generally uppermost in the minds of the Nri traditional elite, the ozo titled men” and it is during this period the Ikolo – “Ufie sacred music sound/played day and night for one year in the Kings palace” (Onwuejeogwu, 1981:114 & 87-88).” [1] Nri seems to have had well-established trade networks even quite early on, so it’s reasonable to assume the presence of markets throughout the area. “The Igbo-Ukwu excavations suggested that the institution of sacred kingship, which still flourishes at Nr and among the riverain and western Igbo, was much older than could have been deduced from oral tradition alone. The finds yielded evidence of a hitherto unsuspected involvement in international trade, hundreds of miles from the southern termini of the Saharan routes: there was a great treasury of beads, some of glass and some of carnelian, many of which seem to have originated in Venice and India. Much research has been devoted to the raw materials used in the sculptures: tin bronze and leaded tin bronze, which may have been obtained in ancient mines in Abakaliki in eastern Igboland.” [2]
[1]: Madukasi, F. C. (2021). Otutunzu Shrine: The Sacred Temple for Ritual Coronation of Igbo Monarchs and Hegemonic Endeavours in Traditional Religion. International Journal of Social Science and Human Research, 04(03): 438. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/6UV94AVD/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 247. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
“At this stage any suggestions must be tentative, especially since on the local side it is still very unclear - and will remain so unless the site of Igbo-Ukwu can be re-examined in a radically novel way - whether the location excavated by Shaw was no more than a burial shrine or priest’s abode secluded in the forest, or whether contrarily it was part of a real town of that period with an industrial quarter. Either way, it is acknowledged that the manufacture and burial of so many exquisite objects, most of them essentially non-utilitarian, must be of religious and social significance, as well as economic.” [1] “Many of the finds — which included a treasure hoard and a dignitary buried in a sitting position in a wood-lined chamber, with slaves and valuables — were immediately explicable in terms of later Nri culture.” [2]
[1]: Sutton, J. E. G. (1991). The International Factor at Igbo-Ukwu. The African Archaeological Review, 9, 145–160: 149. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HBPMUV6T/collection
[2]: Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 247. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1] A calendar complex existed, but there’s nothing to suggest it was written down. “Nri dominance was founded on the control and manipulation of the agricultural cycle and calendar. The Igbo year was a rather complicated one since it was not only divided into days […], weeks […] moons […]; but also into ritual and farming cycles. This created the need for specialists who, from observing the heavenly bodies and the seasons, would declare the beginning and the end of each moon or cycle or year. This, in Igbo, was known as Igu Afo (counting the year) and was very important since it was tied to the very survival of the community.” [2]
[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection
[2]: Afigbo, A. E. (1981). The Holy City of Nri. In Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (pp. 31–68). University Press in association with Oxford University Press; 51. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/RIZ4Q3BG/collection
“More than by the inflationary import of manilla rings, cowries and iron during the 19th century, the Igbo economy was affected by an increasing import of cheap industrial goods from Europe. Hardwares fabricated in the growing British steel industry competed successfully with the craft products of local smiths. Cheap cotton from Manchester started to replace the various kinds of African cloth, while the missionary activities promoted European standards of prudery and an increasing consumption of textile. The salt formerly produced in the Niger delta was now imported almost as ballast from Liverpool (Jones fthcg.: 623). The European traders developed a monopoly in the salt trade by encouraging their partners, the African coastal chiefs, to prohibit salt production on the coast (Northrup 1978: 213).” [1] “It would appear that by the eighteenth century much of the commercial transactions in Igboland were done in money. Using information gathered in the nineteenth century and early this century, one would discover that many currencies were used in pre-colonial Igboland. These included salt, umumu, cowries, manillas, brass rods and copper wires. […] information available to the present writer would tend to show that as much as one or two currencies might be dominant in one part, there was no area of Igboland where any of them would not have been recognized and used as money.” [2]
[1]: Müller, B. (1985). Commodities as Currencies: The Integration of Overseas Trade into the Internal Trading Structure of the Igbo of South-East Nigeria (Les marchandises comme monnaies: l’intégration de la traite d’outremer dans la structure commerciale interne des Igbo du Sud-Est-Nigeria). Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 25(97), 57–77: 71. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/4SWQS6N5/collection
[2]: Afigbo, A. E. (1981). Economic Foundations of Pre-Colonial Igbo Society. In Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (pp. 124–144). University Press in association with Oxford University Press; 139. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5I5XITDA/collection
Umumu (minted iron money) may have been used. “It would appear that by the eighteenth century much of the commercial transactions in Igboland were done in money. Using information gathered in the nineteenth century and early this century, one would discover that many currencies were used in pre-colonial Igboland. These included salt, umumu, cowries, manillas, brass rods and copper wires. […] information available to the present writer would tend to show that as much as one or two currencies might be dominant in one part, there was no area of Igboland where any of them would not have been recognized and used as money.” [1]
[1]: Afigbo, A. E. (1981). Economic Foundations of Pre-Colonial Igbo Society. In Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (pp. 124–144). University Press in association with Oxford University Press; 139. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5I5XITDA/collection
“Thus, in spite of the radiocarbon dates, one is tempted to take the presence at Igbo-Ukwu of the manilla as a terminus post quem. Unfortunately, the origin and age of the manilla cannot yet be stated with any certainty. According to one legend, before the arrival of the Portuguese on the Guinea Coast, some Delta fishermen hauled up in their nets "one or two bronze torques" from an ancient wreck. They liked the look of these "torques", and when the Portuguese arrived in the fifteenth century, the "torques" were shown to them with the request that copies be made. A certain number were thus introduced and, owing to the avidity with which these were accepted, smaller ones of much the same shape were imported in ever increasing numbers, until they formed the currency of the coastal regions, and gradually extended inward till they became the main medium of barter from the Niger to the Cross River.” [1] “In West Africa, the most common form of copper (or copper-alloy) currency was the manilla, a circular or oval cross-section metal bar with flaring ends that was bent into a bracelet-like ring (Fig. 2.9). These were extremely common as a traditional currency well into the twentieth century in the Niger delta (Johansson 1967) and their use extended southward into the lower Congo (Johnston 1908). The origin of manillas is not well documented. Historical accounts from the western Sudan mention rings as a medium of exchange as early as the eleventh century (Herbert 1984), and some archaeological discoveries from tropical West Africa include a few copper rings dating between the ninth and thirteenth centuries (Shaw 1970; Connah 1975).” [2] “Writing on the purchase of yams, sheep and slaves by a Portuguese ship at Bonny about 1500, Duarte Pacheco Pereira remarked: our ships buy these things for copper bracelets, which are here greatly prized; for eight or ten bracelets you can obtain one slave.” [3] “Amogu has, however, suggested that the manilla was introduced to the Guinea Coast only after the fifteenth century when "the increasing trade between the Africans and the Europeans created a new demand for a standard currency". P. A. Talbot, on the other hand, is inclined to think "that this currency came down from a remote era and may even have originally been introduced from Egypt, as a penannular ring money was used there to a certain extent, or by Phoenician and Carthaginian traders". Whatever the exact origin of this currency, all the evidence so far at our disposal suggest that it was a coastal phenomenon, and that it rose into prominence both as a medium of exchange and ornament only after the fifteenth century A.D. In other words, before being quantified by the European traders, the manilla would seem to have been a rare commodity which was, to all intents and purposes, confined to the Guinea Coast.” [3] “More than by the inflationary import of manilla rings, cowries and iron during the 19th century, the Igbo economy was affected by an increasing import of cheap industrial goods from Europe. Hardwares fabricated in the growing British steel industry competed successfully with the craft products of local smiths. Cheap cotton from Manchester started to replace the various kinds of African cloth, while the missionary activities promoted European standards of prudery and an increasing consumption of textile. The salt formerly produced in the Niger delta was now imported almost as ballast from Liverpool (Jones fthcg.: 623). The European traders developed a monopoly in the salt trade by encouraging their partners, the African coastal chiefs, to prohibit salt production on the coast (Northrup 1978: 213).” [4] “It would appear that by the eighteenth century much of the commercial transactions in Igboland were done in money. Using information gathered in the nineteenth century and early this century, one would discover that many currencies were used in pre-colonial Igboland. These included salt, umumu, cowries, manillas, brass rods and copper wires. […] information available to the present writer would tend to show that as much as one or two currencies might be dominant in one part, there was no area of Igboland where any of them would not have been recognized and used as money.” [5]
[1]: Lawal, B. (1972). The Igbo-Ukwu ’Bronzes’: a Search for the Economic Evidence. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 6(3), 313–321: 315. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HKIT5IE5/collection
[2]: Bisson, M. S., Childs, T. S., De Barros, P., & Holl, A. F. C. (2000). Ancient African Metallurgy The Sociocultural Context (J. O. Vogel, Ed.). AltaMira Press: 114. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NPWPXZQ6/collection
[3]: Lawal, B. (1972). The Igbo-Ukwu ’Bronzes’: a Search for the Economic Evidence. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 6(3), 313–321: 316. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HKIT5IE5/collection
[4]: Müller, B. (1985). Commodities as Currencies: The Integration of Overseas Trade into the Internal Trading Structure of the Igbo of South-East Nigeria (Les marchandises comme monnaies: l’intégration de la traite d’outremer dans la structure commerciale interne des Igbo du Sud-Est-Nigeria). Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 25(97), 57–77: 71. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/4SWQS6N5/collection
[5]: Afigbo, A. E. (1981). Economic Foundations of Pre-Colonial Igbo Society. In Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (pp. 124–144). University Press in association with Oxford University Press; 139. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5I5XITDA/collection
“Thus, in spite of the radiocarbon dates, one is tempted to take the presence at Igbo-Ukwu of the manilla as a terminus post quem. Unfortunately, the origin and age of the manilla cannot yet be stated with any certainty. According to one legend, before the arrival of the Portuguese on the Guinea Coast, some Delta fishermen hauled up in their nets "one or two bronze torques" from an ancient wreck. They liked the look of these "torques", and when the Portuguese arrived in the fifteenth century, the "torques" were shown to them with the request that copies be made. A certain number were thus introduced and, owing to the avidity with which these were accepted, smaller ones of much the same shape were imported in ever increasing numbers, until they formed the currency of the coastal regions, and gradually extended inward till they became the main medium of barter from the Niger to the Cross River.” [1] “In West Africa, the most common form of copper (or copper-alloy) currency was the manilla, a circular or oval cross-section metal bar with flaring ends that was bent into a bracelet-like ring (Fig. 2.9). These were extremely common as a traditional currency well into the twentieth century in the Niger delta (Johansson 1967) and their use extended southward into the lower Congo (Johnston 1908). The origin of manillas is not well documented. Historical accounts from the western Sudan mention rings as a medium of exchange as early as the eleventh century (Herbert 1984), and some archaeological discoveries from tropical West Africa include a few copper rings dating between the ninth and thirteenth centuries (Shaw 1970; Connah 1975).” [2] “Writing on the purchase of yams, sheep and slaves by a Portuguese ship at Bonny about 1500, Duarte Pacheco Pereira remarked: our ships buy these things for copper bracelets, which are here greatly prized; for eight or ten bracelets you can obtain one slave.” [3] “Amogu has, however, suggested that the manilla was introduced to the Guinea Coast only after the fifteenth century when "the increasing trade between the Africans and the Europeans created a new demand for a standard currency". P. A. Talbot, on the other hand, is inclined to think "that this currency came down from a remote era and may even have originally been introduced from Egypt, as a penannular ring money was used there to a certain extent, or by Phoenician and Carthaginian traders". Whatever the exact origin of this currency, all the evidence so far at our disposal suggest that it was a coastal phenomenon, and that it rose into prominence both as a medium of exchange and ornament only after the fifteenth century A.D. In other words, before being quantified by the European traders, the manilla would seem to have been a rare commodity which was, to all intents and purposes, confined to the Guinea Coast.” [3] “More than by the inflationary import of manilla rings, cowries and iron during the 19th century, the Igbo economy was affected by an increasing import of cheap industrial goods from Europe. Hardwares fabricated in the growing British steel industry competed successfully with the craft products of local smiths. Cheap cotton from Manchester started to replace the various kinds of African cloth, while the missionary activities promoted European standards of prudery and an increasing consumption of textile. The salt formerly produced in the Niger delta was now imported almost as ballast from Liverpool (Jones fthcg.: 623). The European traders developed a monopoly in the salt trade by encouraging their partners, the African coastal chiefs, to prohibit salt production on the coast (Northrup 1978: 213).” [4] “It would appear that by the eighteenth century much of the commercial transactions in Igboland were done in money. Using information gathered in the nineteenth century and early this century, one would discover that many currencies were used in pre-colonial Igboland. These included salt, umumu, cowries, manillas, brass rods and copper wires. […] information available to the present writer would tend to show that as much as one or two currencies might be dominant in one part, there was no area of Igboland where any of them would not have been recognized and used as money.” [5]
[1]: Lawal, B. (1972). The Igbo-Ukwu ’Bronzes’: a Search for the Economic Evidence. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 6(3), 313–321: 315. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HKIT5IE5/collection
[2]: Bisson, M. S., Childs, T. S., De Barros, P., & Holl, A. F. C. (2000). Ancient African Metallurgy The Sociocultural Context (J. O. Vogel, Ed.). AltaMira Press: 114. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NPWPXZQ6/collection
[3]: Lawal, B. (1972). The Igbo-Ukwu ’Bronzes’: a Search for the Economic Evidence. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 6(3), 313–321: 316. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HKIT5IE5/collection
[4]: Müller, B. (1985). Commodities as Currencies: The Integration of Overseas Trade into the Internal Trading Structure of the Igbo of South-East Nigeria (Les marchandises comme monnaies: l’intégration de la traite d’outremer dans la structure commerciale interne des Igbo du Sud-Est-Nigeria). Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 25(97), 57–77: 71. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/4SWQS6N5/collection
[5]: Afigbo, A. E. (1981). Economic Foundations of Pre-Colonial Igbo Society. In Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (pp. 124–144). University Press in association with Oxford University Press; 139. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5I5XITDA/collection
“The finds at Igbo-Ukwu suggest that the Eze Nri institution and its agents were involved in long-distance commerce and that the wealth that they acquired from their local ritual and political activities was used to finance the acquisition of sumptuary goods, especially Indian and Venetian beads, textiles, and horses in exchange for exports such as ivory, possibly kolanut, and other undetermined products that might have included slaves, iron, and copper artifacts. The officers of Eze Nri also used their wealth and status as ritual specialists to recruit and maintain numerous miners, craftsmen, and artists among others.” [1]
[1]: Ogundiran, A. (2005). Four Millennia of Cultural History in Nigeria (ca. 2000 B.C.—A.D. 1900): Archaeological Perspectives. Journal of World Prehistory, 19(2), 133–168: 148. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PK7F26DP/collection