Oko are side-blown horns and Akohẹn are flutes, however since the instruments look very similar they are grouped together here. Oko are frequently used by priests to evoke spirits and by traditional doctors to drive away witches when attending to a patient that may have been afflicted by a witch. Oko can also serve as an object of commemoration; when a new Ọba sends an ivory Oko to be kept at the Olokun Shrine in Ughoton, it is to commemorate his accession to the throne. Akohen, on the other hand, is a flute. Egharevba (1968:40

) dates the Akohen to the era of Ọba Eresoyen.

Side-blown wind instruments, sometimes referred to as trumpets, horns or flutes in English, were used in Edo ritual to ‘call the ancestors’. Although typically carved from ivory, there are also a number which are cast in bronze – whether these were also usable for sound-making purposes is not clear. Trumpets are depicted on relief plaques, providing an insight into how they were worn as part of ceremonial attire. Furthermore, there are also some horn-blower or flute-player figures depicting court musicians playing these objects.

Akohẹn/Oko

Horn or Flute

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

Beasley, Harry Geoffrey

Dealer

Collector

British Museum link

Beasley, Irene Marguerite 

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