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0:08–0:26 The palace of the Ọba of Benin, which is located presently in the heart of the city centre, was first constructed in the thirteenth century by Ọba Ẹwẹdo. When he decided to leave his palace, his chiefs, his great nobles in the former location.

0:28–0:41 Around 1816, the present palace was burnt down as a result of the civil war between Ọba Ọsẹmwẹndẹ and his brother Prince Ogbebọ, who was a usurper, and the palace was subsequently reconstructed.

0:42–0:52 As a result of the British punitive expedition, the palace was burnt down in 1897 and reconstructed between 1914 and 1917 when the monarchy was restored.

0:53–1:19 Part of the uniqueness of the palace is that before the British destruction, the palace had a large expanse of land and has about 201 rooms with different altars and shrines dedicated to all the monarchs who have reigned from the time it was constructed in the thirteenth century up to the nineteenth century, when it was destroyed by the British punitive expedition.

1:19–1:30 One of the symbols in the palace and the beauty of the palace, apart from the traditional symbols, was this snake that was on the roof.

1:31–1:44 And the symbolism of this snake and the significance to the people was that it has medicinal potency and also communicated to the people the aura of fear and awe with which the people hold, the esteem to which the people hold the Ọba.

1:48–2:08 And for the people of Benin, this symbol of the snake was beyond medicine, medicinal potency. It was a way in which they see the Ọba in their life and the entirety of their daily being, as one who commands power.

2:09–2:15 And just like the everyday snake, it creates a kind of shock in somebody, whoever sees it.

2:16–2:32 The snake on the roof of the palace was made of bronze, and this was, again, one of the special features of the monarchy of Benin Kingdom.

2:33–2:57 On the medicinal part of it, the snake was associated with a particular deity or ritual (as we would call it in Benin, which was the Osun), and the monarch was head of all the deities in the kingdom, which also means that the snake being there also shows the power of the monarch over all religious activities in the kingdom.