Akhẹ
Akhẹ is the general term for all earthenware pots. Pottery is one of the oldest traditional crafts practised in Benin, and Akhẹ continue to be made and used today in Benin City. Potters were, and continue to be, known as Imakhe, and they are often women.
Akhẹ had a variety of purposes in Benin Kingdom, and the amount and type of decoration indicate what they may have been used for in the past. For example, simply decorated globular pots identified as Akhẹ-Amẹ likely would have been used to store water. Meanwhile, pots decorated with snakes, frogs and small representations of people are considered Akhẹ-Osun (Osun pots) and would have been used by ritual experts who were associated with the deity of medicine, Osun. Those whose function cannot be identified have been grouped here under the general term Akhẹ.
Educational Material
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