Little known, the Oyo Empire, a part of the Benin that existed at that time, was one of the great military powers of the world. All boys entered the military, and there was a female warrior unit as well. I believe the predecessor to modern Benin, Dahomey, was a major supplier of slaves to the slave trade, conducting raids into the interior and bringing members of other tribes to the coast to sell.
The Nok culture, surfacing about as early as 1000 BC, developed sculpture and carving to a degree not seen anywhere other than Egypt or China during that period.
Little known, the Oyo Empire, a part of the Benin that existed at that time, was one of the great military powers of the world. All boys entered the military, and there was a female warrior unit as well. I believe the predecessor to modern Benin, Dahomey, was a major supplier of slaves to the slave trade, conducting raids into the interior and bringing members of other tribes to the coast to sell.
The Nok culture, surfacing about as early as 1000 BC, developed sculpture and carving to a degree not seen anywhere other than Egypt or China during that period.