Benin ancestral altars

Some of the finest examples of art from the Benin Kingdom of south-central Nigeria were created to adorn ancestral altars.

According to anthropologists Kulcher and Melion, art objects or visual images do not merely encode memory but actively engender modes of recollection. A Benin ancestral altar is such a locus for constructing memory. Its purpose was to establish in the most lasting way possible that the deceased had successfully fulfilled his social destiny or akhonmioto. Therefore, the role of the objects on ancestral altars was to construct memory and affirm social identity. Additionally, altars serve as a site through which a living leader communicated with his ancestor via the latter's commemorative head. Ancestral altars ensure dynastic continuity and facilitate the consistent continuity of ideals of leadership.

Paternal ancestral altars, aru erha, consist of a raised mud platform set against a wall. A series of elongated wooden staffs, ukhurhe, rest against the wall. The upper segment of the staff is hollowed out and contains a clapper inside which can be rattled when the staffs are struck on the ground, a gesture that is performed to call the ancestors. The body of the staff is segmented to represent ukhurhoho, a wild plant with short branches that break off when they reach a certain length. As a result, the staff symbolizes a single lifespan, as expressed in the Edo proverb: "If ukhurhoho has not reached the promised day of one's destiny [the day of one's death], it will not break off."

Sumptuary laws govern the shape and composition of ancestral altars, requiring differences between commoners, chiefs and royalty. A comparison of these three types of altar will demonstrate that an increase in socioeconomic and ritual status is paralleled by an increase in the elaborateness of the altar.

The commoners' altar is a mud rectangle surmounted by a long row of rattle staffs, which reflect the activities of generations of senior sons. The staff finials depict a generalized ancestral head, devoid of any marks of status. One or more brass bells are placed in the center of the altar to be rung at the beginning of rituals. Occasionally, the senior son will add decorative elements that relate directly to his father's life.

Chiefly ancestral altars have a similar form to commoner's ancestral altars but are more highly decorated. Specific to chiefly ancestral altars is the wooden commemorative head, or uhunmwun elao, which represents the chief by accurately depicting the regalia of his rank.

In order to ensure dynastic continuity, a newly installed oba is responsible for creating an altar dedicated to his father and predecessor. The altar holds objects commissioned to honor the leader being commemorated, and thus are adorned and activated on a regular basis with libations of food or animal blood. The oba does the same for his mother if she attained the title of iyoba, or queen mother

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