Iconographies

1 annotations

Ẹghughu

Crocodile

See Ẹghughu page

In the riverine area surrounding Benin City, there are two types of crocodile. The Ẹghughu, known in English as the dwarf or bush crocodile, is believed to be more docile ( ; Ọbazee 2025, p. 133). The second type is the Àgbákà, the aggressive Nile crocodile ( ; Ọbazee 2025, p. 11).

Crocodiles are one of the important animals represented in the historical Emwin Arhe, and they are known as Olokun’s guards or the “policemen” of the waters. The powerful and ferocious qualities of these animals might explain why warrior figures are often depicted wearing Uhunmwu-Ẹkuẹ (pendant masks) in the shape of crocodile heads on Ama-Ẹrọnmwọn (bronze relief plaques) ( ). Olokun devotees use crocodiles as sacrificial animals in offerings during the worship of Olokun.

1 annotation

Provenance

4 events

Production

unknown to February 22, 1897 (day approximate)

The object was produced by Unknown member(s) of the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn guild in Benin City.

Looted

February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to June 1899 (year approximate)

The object was looted by Unknown member of the British colonial military campaign on Benin - February 1897 from Benin Kingdom.

Unknown

February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to March 30, 1908

The object is known to have come into contact with Carl Heinrich Becker.

Purchase

March 8, 1908

The object was purchased by the Übersee-Museum Bremen from Carl Heinrich Becker with its destination in Bremen.

Institution data

Übersee-Museum Bremen

The data was transferred directly by the institution.

Last updated: 2021-06-01

Language: german

Institution field	Value
Objektnummer object id	B06707
Objektname designation object type	Anhänger Krokodil Fragment
Beschreibung description	Bruchstück, aus einer flachen Platte, die von offenen Ösen umrahmt ist, erhebt sich plastisch ein Krokodilkopf. Der hintere Teil ist abgebrochen. Auch der Ösenkranz ist defekt.
Material material	Messing
Maße dimensions	Allgemein: 2 × 10,5 × 13 cm
Datierung date made	before 1908
Ort production place
Staat production place	Nigeria
Geber prior source provenance	Carl Heinr. Becker
Sammler prior source provenance
Vorbesitzer prior source provenance
Kultur/Ethnie ethnic attribution	Benin
Sammlung department and institution	E00776
Erwerbsdatum accession date	1908-03-30
Erwerbsart accession method	Kauf

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Iconographies

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