The origin point of Yoruba civilisation — the Ife bronze heads, the palace of Oni, and the sacred grove of Osun-Osogbo
Ile-Ife (also written as Ife) is the sacred city of the Yoruba people — the city that Yoruba cosmology identifies as the origin of human civilisation (Oduduwa, the first Yoruba king, descended from heaven here on a chain). The city is home to Obafemi Awolowo University (one of Nigeria's best universities) and the Ile-Ife Museum — which houses the world-famous Ife bronze heads: a series of naturalistic portrait sculptures in copper alloy and terracotta, cast by the lost-wax method between the 11th and 15th centuries CE, depicting Yoruba kings (oni) with extraordinary realism. When the German a…
Ife was the political and spiritual capital of the Yoruba-speaking states from the 11th century CE — the city-states of Benin, Oyo, Ijebu, and all others acknowledged Ife as the origin of their ruling dynasties (the oni of Ife is considered the most senior traditional ruler among the Yoruba). The bronze-casting tradition peaked between the 11th and 15th centuries; the collection in the Ife Museum represents only a fraction of what was created — many pieces were dispersed and destroyed. The British colonial period (the city was incorporated into the colony of Southern Nigeria in 1897) disrupte…