Antique images and videos of Alaigbo/Ala Igbo (Igboland).
Illustration of the sacred 'forbidden' inner chamber of an Mbari house in the Urata-Echie Igbo area (Imo and Rivers today) by P. A. Talbot in "Some Nigerian Fertility Cults," 1927. The chamber, which holds the chi of the Mbari's main deity, is guarded by two female divinities.
A titled Igbo man from Ogwashi Ukwu, Enuani, present-day Delta State, photographed by Northcote Thomas, 1912. Colourised from black and white, Ụ́kpụ́rụ́ 2019.
Ogwashi Ukwu was established by Odaigbo from Agukwu Nri, the son of an Eze Nri. Odaigbo [or Odaba Igbo] fled over the Niger with his brother Edini. Odaigbo and Edini are said to have fled from Agukwu Nri due to issues there and in several versions of the story were given a ritual pot which would fall at the spot where they'd establish a settlement.
Ogwashi Ukwu, Ogwa Nshi Ukwu, means 'the great shrine-hall of Nshi (Nri) people.' Edini founded Igbuzo with other migrants from Isuama around present-day Imo State headed by Umejei a son of (nwa) Eze Isu [other traditions place this Isu north of Öka around Isu Aniocha].
Son of the late Eze Nri at Oreri, wearing Benin-style bronze pectoral mask. Photo: Thurstan Shaw, 1960.
Awka smiths working on the eastern side of the Niger among the Igala were known not only to copy but also to make outright purchases of bronze goods from local casters. These bronzes were sold to northern Igbo who used them in title-taking activities. Extrapolating from this experience, it is quite possible that Awka smiths exploited their particular sensitivity to metal goods and facilitated the distribution of these and other bronzes among Delta peoples. The programmed movements of Awka men, therefore, may well have influenced the flow of divergent bronze styles throughout the Delta.
– Nancy C. Neaher (1976). "Igbo Metalsmiths among the Southern Edo."
At a hairdressers in Onicha (Onitsha). French Catholic Lower Niger Mission postcard, early 20th century.
Unidentified people photographed by Henry Crosse with the Royal Niger Company, c.1886–1895. MAA Cambridge, the two men in the forefront may be members of the Agbala Nze priestly title association of Onicha (Onitsha) or Eze-titled men from Asaba since many of the photos taken by Henry Crosse were in Onicha and Asaba.
An Igbo elder who seems to have been photographed in Öka (Awka) with "wooden head dress, set with pearl buttons" [isi ojongo?]. From the photo album of Northcote Thomas, photographed c. 1910-11. MAA Cambridge.
The elder seems to be titled as she's seen here on what seems to be an oche mpata, a stool for titled people, particularly Ọzọ.
Some of the oldest fibres of textiles found in western Africa from the compound of Isaiah Anozie in Igbo Ukwu dating back to around the 9th century; the bast and flat grass fibres survived by being wrapped around copper and bronze objects that preserved them. At the time of their excavation in the 1960s they were the oldest known examples of textiles in west Africa. Photos: Shirley Institute.
Cabled yarn from the chains of a bronze pendant. Shirley Institute.
From Igbo Isaiah a shrine, textile associated with copper chain with weave pattern and selvedge. Shirley Institute.
Photo: Ikpe case from Enyong in nsibidi recorded by Macgregor (1909).
In a class I was teaching, a pupil deeply resented the statement that the civilisation of the people in Nigeria was primitive because they had no writing. He [Ezeikpe Agwu?] declared that they had a writing called nsibidi. This happened in April, 1905. ... I set myself to find out all I could about nsibidi. People smiled when I asked for information and declared that they knew nothing about it. The reason for this is that in Efik nsibidi is used almost only to express love [and sex], and this term covers such a multitude of most abominable sins that no self-respecting Efik person will confess that he knows anything, about the writing of it. ... Still from them it was possible to see that here we have a genuine product of the native civilisation the origin of which is so old as to have become the subject of a Märchen.
– J. K. Macgregor (1909). Notes on Nsibidi.
