Ẹkpede (crossbows) were introduced by the Portuguese, although the Edo people already had and used Uhambọ and 

. Archery was introduced at the same time as the Ẹkpede.

From around 1440 onwards, during the era of the warrior kings the Benin armies became increasingly specialised. The formation of dedicated units of archers or bowmen with extensive training was part of these developments (Osadolor, 2001, p.20

). In addition to full-size Ẹkpede, miniature versions are also held in museum collections. These would have been made in iron by members of the Igun-Ematon and placed on altars to Ake, the deity of archery, or Ogun, the deity of war (Dark, 1973, p.54-55

Ẹkpẹde

Ẹkpede (crossbows) were introduced by the Portuguese, although the Edo people already had and used Uhambọ and Ifẹnmwẹ. Archery was introduced at the same time as the Ẹkpede.

Crossbow

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The British Museum’s archives are held in various locations across the institution. The items listed here aim to give an overview of the main locations where relevant archival and photographic material relating to objects from the Kingdom of Benin is housed. Key areas relevant for cultural objects from the Kingdom of Benin are: Corporate Archives; Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas archives; Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory archives; and the Anthropology Library and Research Centre.

Website

Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas 

Online Catalogue

Library & Archive

British Museum

Internal Data (eng)

Wikidata Link

Unwin, Arthur Harold

Collected in the field

Suggestion: The word juju in itself is not harmful in as much as it refers to the belief system. It can be used in a harmful or derogatory way and is context dependent. Please assess the context of this word as a user of the platform.

 more about the background of this statement here.

juju 

Suggestion: Replace with, “a person of short stature,” “little person” or "someone with dwarfism". (See 

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dwarf

Suggestion: Replace with First Nations, First people, or particular community name. (See 

aboriginal

Suggestion: Replace with the name of the particular community and delete where it is used to reference an already identified group, e.g Igbo ~~tribe.~~

tribe

This word was redacted from the catalogue as a derogatory racialised word.

DB_redacted_word

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non-western

western-art

western museum

tribal

hofzwerg

For more information on this term and its violent and inherently harmful context to indigenous communities, see 

British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897

expedition

exotic

negro

Suggestion: Replace with the word Africa.

Black Africa

Warning: This word is used in a historic context of a title for a book, exhibition, institution name or book description etc. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities.

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primitive

Suggestion: Replace with traditional healer, spiritual healer, or specific name that particular communities use to define this role. (See 

medicine man

Suggestion: Replace in cases where it used to describe human beings, with the term indigenous communities, first people or particular community name.