Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Crano.

In this lesson, we are going to embark on a fascinating journey to a place with a rich history and vibrant culture, a place called Benin City.

This lesson is part of a unit about non-European societies.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe what Benin City was like, and it is my job to support you with the resources and learning materials.

But before we start with the lesson, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

They are Edo, indigenous, plain, and suburbs.

Now I'm going to say these words again, but this time, I would like you to read them with me.

They are Edo, indigenous, plain, suburbs.

Now let's find out what these words mean.

The Edo were the indigenous inhabitants of the Kingdom of Benin Indigenous.

Indigenous refers to people living in a land from the earliest times.

Plain.

A plain is a large area of flat land with few trees.

Suburbs.

Suburbs are areas on the outskirts of a city or town where people live.

Now you might want to take a note of these words and their meanings because they will come up in the lesson.

You can then refer back to your notes and it'll really help you make sense of your learning.

So pause the video here, and when you are ready to start the lesson, press play.

This lesson about Benin City has two learning cycles, and the first one is entitled the heart of the Kingdom of Benin.

Here is an image of one of many thousands of Benin Bronzes.

They are scattered around the world where they are housed in museums and private collections, but where do they come from and who made them? Join me in an adventure of discovery as we answer these questions.

The Benin Bronzes are plaques and statues that were originally created in the heart of the historic Kingdom of Benin in Benin City.

Benin City was the capital of the kingdom.

The indigenous people who lived in the Kingdom of Benin are known as the Edo people.

The beautifully crafted artefacts were created by the Edo people in Benin City.

Before we move on with the lesson, let's take a moment to check our understanding.

Explain to your learning partner who historically the Edo people were.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready to reflect on the answer, press play.

Here is an example of an answer that you could have given.

"The Edo people were the indigenous inhabitants of the Kingdom of Benin." Fill in the blanks to complete the sentence.

The Benin Bronzes are artefacts that were made by the mm people of mm City.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answers, press play.

Let's find out what the correct answers are.

The Benin Bronzes are artefacts that were made by the Edo people of Benin City.

Great work.

The Kingdom of Benin no longer exists, but it was situated in the hot, humid, and vibrant West African rainforest in the southwestern part of a country that is now known as Nigeria.

Its capital, Benin City, was known for its impressive city planning and design.

Because it was built so long ago, there are very few photographs from that time to show us exactly what the city looked like, so we use historical accounts and archaeological evidence to provide clues to find out more about the ancient city.

Benin City was built on a plain within the rainforest.

Building on a flat open area made it easier to construct the city.

Let's check our understanding by saying whether the following statement is true or false.

Benin City was built on a hillside.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

The answer of course is false, but let's justify why we say it is fault.

In other words, let's give a reason for our answer.

Is it, a, it was built on a plain, which is a large area with hills and ditches, or it was built on a plain, which is a large area of flat land with trees? Pause video here, and when you are ready to hear the answer, press play.

And the answer of course is b.

It was built on a plain, which is a large area of flat land with trees.

Benin City's design included huge, strong walls made of mud and a type of rock called laterite, which surrounded the whole city.

The walls were several metres high to protect the city from threats and invasion.

The walls of Benin City were built by the Edo people who inhabited the Kingdom of Benin.

They were built using a technique called rammed earth, where layers of soil and compacted earth were stacked to create a solid barrier.

The walls were reinforced with more defensive structures, like moats and ditches filled with water.

There were even guard towers, making it very difficult for attackers to break into the city.

The kingdom's people and its valuable resources were kept very safe.

So maybe next time you see a big wall or a fence around a village or an old castle, think about the people of Benin City and how they used their engineering skills to keep themselves safe.

Beyond the big walls that circled the main part of the city were about 500 smaller villages forming the suburbs of Benin City.

Each suburb had its own protective walls separate from the main city walls.

These walls offered protection from outside danger and created distinct boundaries for each suburb, making clear zones within the broader city.

It shows how clever the Edo people were about planning their city and making sure that it was strong and secure.

Today, there are still remains of these smaller walls and the surrounding villages, which have given archaeologists and historians important clues about the city's layout and defensive strategies.

Benin City was well planned and featured straight roads and square houses.

The city also had some advanced features for its time.

It had streetlights.

The lamps were made from brass by skilled Edo craftsmen who were known for their metalworking ability.

The lamps used palm oil as their fuel for burning the lamps.

Palm oil was readily available in the region because the Kingdom of Benin was located in the tropical rainforests of West Africa where palm trees grew abundantly.

They extracted the oil from palm trees, which was a fantastic fuel source for lighting lamps and homes and public spaces.

The streetlights were carefully positioned along the city streets so that they lit the streets at nighttime.

Here is a question to check our understanding of what we have just learned.

Which of the following was not a feature of Benin City? A, high walls.

B, round houses.

C suburbs.

D, street lamps.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Well, the answer that was not a feature is round houses.

They did not have round houses.

In fact, they had square houses.

Well done if you got that correct.

We are now ready for the first learning task of this lesson.

This task has two parts.

First part says match the words about Benin City's planning and design in column A to those column B.

So the words in column are rainforest, walls and ditches, 500 villages, street lamps.

The words in column B are defence, palm oil, plain, and suburbs.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answers, press play.

Let's see how the words in column A match with column B.

First is rainforest.

Rainforest matches with plain.

Walls and ditches match with defence.

500 villages are suburbs, and the street lamps used palm oil.

Here is the second part of this learning task.

Explain in one sentence how the words in each match are linked.

We have rainforest and plain, walls and ditches and defence, 500 villages and suburbs, street lamps and palm oil.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready to reflect on the answers, press play.

We can now find out what your answers could have included.

For rainforest and plain, you could have said, "Benin City was built on an open plain in the West African rainforest." For walls and ditches, defence, you could have said, "It was designed with high, strong walls next to ditches to offer defence against invasion." For 500 villages and suburbs, you could have said, "Beyond the walls of the city were about 500 villages forming the suburbs," and for street lamps and palm oil, you could have said, "They used metal street lamps fueled by palm oil to light the streets at night." Well done if your answers were similar to these.

We are now ready for the second learning cycle of this lesson, and it is entitled jobs and homes.

Historical evidence suggests that where people lived depended on the job that they did.

So people with similar jobs lived in the same suburbs and villages.

The city was organised in a way so that different groups of people had specific areas where they lived and worked.

Skilled craftsmen and traders, like the artisans who created the beautiful Benin Bronzes, often lived and worked within the city walls.

These craftsmen were highly respected for their talent, and they played a vital role in creating the intricate artworks and artefacts that were highly prized by the kingdom.

Similarly, merchants and traders who bought and exchanged goods, sometimes from distant lands, also lived within the city walls.

Those who worked on the farms, cultivating crops like yams, cassavas and plantains, typically lived in the surrounding areas, possibly in villages near the rainforest.

These farmers made sure that the kingdom had enough food for all the people.

They likely lived in villages near the rainforests where they could access fertile land for farming and natural resources, like palm oil, to sell.

Let's check our understanding of what we have just learned about jobs and homes.

Tick the correct column to say where people with these jobs in Benin City would've lived and worked, craftsman, merchant, farmer.

Would they have lived inside the city walls or outside the city walls? Pause the video here, and when you're ready for the answers, press play.

Craftsmen would have lived and worked inside the city walls.

Merchants, well, they were also inside the city walls, whereas farmers lived outside the city walls.

Good work.

We are now ready for the second learning task of this lesson, which says, "Read Laura's statement below.

Do you agree? Explain your answer in one paragraph." Laura says, "Benin City was a well-planned and cleverly designed city." Useful words and phrases to include in your answer are plain, walls and ditches, suburbs, street lamps, and jobs.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready to reflect on the answer, press play.

Well, your answer could have included the following.

"I agree with Laura.

Firstly, Benin City was built on a plain in the rainforest, which made it easier to construct roads and buildings.

Secondly, the city had excellent defences.

The high walls and ditches filled with water offered good protection.

In addition, outside the city walls were 500 smaller villages, forming the suburbs, each with its own protective walls and ditches.

Moreover, the city had square houses and straight roads with metal street lamps which were lit at night.

Finally, people's jobs dictated where they lived and worked, so craftsmen working on the Benin Bronzes lived inside the city and farmers lived outside the city." A very, very big well done if your answer is similar to this one, and an extra big well done if you managed to use all the words highlighted in green.

We have now come to the end of this lesson, but before we go, let's summarise what we have learned about Benin City.

The Edo people were the indigenous inhabitants of Benin City, the capital of the Kingdom of Benin.

Benin City was well planned and designed.

It was built on a plain and surrounded by tall, strong mud walls and big ditches filled with water to protect the city from threats and invasion.

The city had suburbs, each with its own protective walls and ditches.

Its straight roads and square houses were lit by metal street lamps at night.

Where people lived and worked depended on their job.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson, and well done on all your hard work.

I've really enjoyed taking you along this learning adventure.

I hope to see you again very soon.