Akohẹn/Oko

Oko are side-blown horns and Akohẹn are flutes, however since the instruments look very similar they are grouped together here. Oko are frequently used by priests to evoke spirits and by traditional doctors to drive away witches when attending to a patient that may have been afflicted by a witch. Oko can also serve as an object of commemoration; when a new Ọba sends an ivory Oko to be kept at the Olokun Shrine in Ughoton, it is to commemorate his accession to the throne. Akohen, on the other hand, is a flute. Egharevba (1968:40 ) dates the Akohen to the era of Ọba Eresoyen.

Side-blown wind instruments, sometimes referred to as trumpets, horns or flutes in English, were used in Edo ritual to ‘call the ancestors’. Although typically carved from ivory, there are also a number which are cast in bronze – whether these were also usable for sound-making purposes is not clear. Trumpets are depicted on relief plaques, providing an insight into how they were worn as part of ceremonial attire. Furthermore, there are also some horn-blower or flute-player figures depicting court musicians playing these objects.