Ile-Ife, also known as Ife, Ife-Lodun, or the Kingdom of Ife, is world famous for its clay ceramic, or terracotta heads, and copper-alloy and bronze ornaments. But few people is familiar with the historical fact of this ancient city.
Ile-Ife, the said cradle of Yoruba race, lies in the present-day Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. For the Yorubas, the holy city, founded around 500 B.C. is the birthplace of humankind.
Although, there were arguments hinged on that fact, as some schools of historical thought said the city was first established when an early Yoruba leader, Oduduwa and his army invaded the city and pushed its early Igbo inhabitants to the east, the Yorubas say the city was created when the gods first came to earth.
“Ife was founded by the deities Oduduwa and Obatala when the world was formed. Obatala mounded the first humans out of clay, while Oduduwa became the first divine king of the Yoruba people,” BlackPast explains. The city is as such, aptly called, Ile Ife, meaning-the place of dispersion.
Life in the kingdom is not well known albeit, but historians across the globe do celebrate its artistic core. Ife artists are said to have begun creating bronze, stone, and terracotta sculptures around the 12th century. Their’s is considered to be among the most unique in Africa, depicting “youth and old age, health and disease, suffering and serenity”.
An African art historian, Bruno Claessens, elucidates how some of the Kingdom’s sculptures were discovered in 1938:
In January 1938, two feet below the ground of the Wunmonije Compound in Ife, a cache of bronze heads was uncovered while a foundation for a house was being dug. It would become one of the most important chance finds in the history of African art.
Although no photos of the excavations exist, historians have a good recollection of the excavation:
“The Wunmonije compound, then just behind the palace of the Ooni of Ife, formerly was located within the enclosing palace wall. While clearing away the topsoil the workmen had struck metal and further digging revealed a group of cast heads. Thirteen life-size heads and a half-lifesize half figure were unearthed. Soon after, the same site yielded additional finds of five more works: a life-size head, three smaller heads, and a torso. The identification and function of these heads remain uncertain. It remains a mystery why this cache was ever buried; possibly this hoard once formed part of a royal altar”.
It is believed that artistic production in the kingdom began to relegate as political power and wealth shifted to the neighboring kingdoms of Benin and Oyo in the 1500s.
Today, Ife sculptures are found in museums in Nigeria, and prominently in Europe and North America. The royal dynasty of Ile Ife is also over eight centuries old, with its current ruler, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja II), the Ooni of Ife.
The city of Ife currently has an approximate population of about half a million people. The city is also home to one of the prestigious Academic Institutions in Africa, Obafemi Awolowo University, and takes pride in the Natural History Museum of Nigeria. Ile-Ife till today still continues to serve as a spiritual hub for the Yoruba people.
