Ọkporhu
Bronze cock which did not come into existence until after the introduction of the Iy’ọba title by Ọba Esigie. The first Iy’Ọba was Idia, and the Iy’ọba title is considered to be the greatest achievement of a Benin woman. It has spiritual significance and is placed at the altar of the Iy’ọba after her death. The Iy’ọba is referred to Ọkpa n’ Uselu (Ọkpa being a shortened version of Ọkporhu).
Digital Benin collates digital material from institutions, and some of this material is inherently colonial and contains words, terms and phrases that are inaccurate, derogatory and harmful towards African and African diasporic communities. Catalogue transcriptions, book titles, exhibition titles and museum titles may contain harmful terms. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. Owing to the scale of the collection’s data, a process to implement sensitive-content warnings in the displayed data is still incomplete. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities. Read more about the background of this statement here