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Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World - Politics - Nairaland

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Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by gidiMonsta(m): 12:54pm On Sep 05, 2012
I stumbled upon this and the most fascinating thing about it is; we had storey buildings in Nigeria before the British landed on our shores. shocked shocked shocked


Eredo: The Largest City in the Ancient World by Robin Walker

On 23 May 1999, the Sunday Times carried an astonishing article entitled Jungle reveals traces of Sheba's fabled kingdom. Over the next few days many other papers followed suit. Even the Daily Mail one day later asked "Was the Queen of Sheba really a Black woman from Nigeria?" As the evidence emerged, however, the queen of Sheba link proved to be hype. The real Sheba was an Ethiopian queen who lived three thousand years ago. What was undeniable, however, was that the southern Nigerian rainforests had an even more amazing secret to tell. The secret was this. During the Middle Ages, Africans built by far the largest city the world had ever seen. In size, this city dwarfed Baghdad, Cairo, Cordoba and Rome. The achievement was on a scale even bigger that that of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Africa's most celebrated monument.

At one time, scholars used to divide the three thousand-year history of southern Nigeria into four great cultural periods. They used to speak of the Nok Culture, the Igbo-Ukwu Culture, the Yoruba Kingdoms and the Benin Empire. This view was boldly challenged by the findings of a team of Bournemouth University scholars led by archaeologist Dr Patrick Darling. Since 1994, the team discovered and mapped the remains of yet another Nigerian kingdom, this time covered by centuries of forest overgrowth. Barnaby Phillips of the BBC described the discoveries as possibly "Africa's largest single monument." As we shall see, this is typical British understatement.

At Eredo, in south western Nigeria, Darling's team found a huge earthen wall with moated sections. This encircled an ancient kingdom or city. From the ditch to the summit of the rampart measured a towering 70 feet. According to Mark Macaskill of the Sunday Times, the rampart was "100 mile[s]" long and formed a rough circle, enclosing "more than 400 square miles." The building was on a truly epic scale. The builders shifted 3.5 million cubic metres of earth to build just the rampart alone. According to the BBC this is, incidentally, "one million cubic metres more than the amount of rock and earth used in the Great Pyramid at Giza." Therefore Eredo's construction is estimated to have "involved about one million more man-hours that were necessary to build the Great Pyramid." The ramparts may indicate the boundary of the original Ijebu kingdom that was ruled by a spiritual leader called the "Awujale". Macaskill, however, disagrees. He describes Eredo as a "city". If he is correct, this would make Eredo one of the very largest cities in all of human history. It was larger than modern London, and was definitely the largest city built in the ancient and mediaeval world.

Among the discoveries, a three-story ruin has been tentatively identified as the royal palace. It had living quarters, shrines and courtyards. It is possible that thousands of smaller buildings are still concealed by the forests. These will be mapped in time. Radiocarbon dating has so far established that the buildings and walls were more than 1,000 years old. Dates such as 800 AD have been given as a good ball-park figure.

People who live near the ruined kingdom or city today have traditions that a wealthy and childless queen, Bilikisu Sungbo, built the city. Some say that she built the city as a religious offering. It is also claimed that Sungbo's territory had a gold and ivory trade. Moreover, her royal household are said to have kept eunuchs. Portuguese documents dating back 500 years, allude to the power of an Ijebu kingdom that some scholars think is possibly this very one. Today, the ruins continue to be of great importance. There are yearly pilgrimages to Sungbo's grave.

Despite this great African achievement it is, however, disconcerting to note that racist theories are already being formulated about this kingdom. For example, Barnaby Phillips wrote that the building of Eredo was: "carried out by people who could not read or write, and with only the most basic of tools. Thousands of labourers - probably slaves - must have toiled in the thick rain forests and dark labyrinth swamps for years."

Naturally, he offers no evidence for the assertions of slavery and illiteracy. On the other hand, the evidence of iron smelting and the other highly advanced metallurgical activities for which the Nigerian civilisations were world leaders seems to disprove the notion that the builders had only basic tools at their disposal.

On a happy note, Dr Darling, the leader of the archaeological team, suggested that Eredo may well gain World Heritage Status. This will put the Eredo kingdom or city on an equal footing with other African marvels such as the Pyramids of Giza and the city of Djenné. It also places this great achievement on a footing with other great marvels from around the world such as Stonehenge.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by TonySpike: 3:27pm On Sep 05, 2012
Good post, I was just thinking about this EREDO name, it seems it has a relationship with the Babylonian ERIDU. I'll soon start a thread I researched on at the History section. I'd like you to read it....
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Abagworo(m): 4:12pm On Sep 05, 2012
There's Oredo in Benin.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by gidiMonsta(m): 4:53pm On Sep 05, 2012
Eredo means ditch in Yoruba and this particular ancient city is located in the rain forests of Ijebu.

Tony Spike: Good post, I was just thinking about this EREDO name, it seems it has a relationship with the Babylonian ERIDU. I'll soon start a thread I researched on at the History section. I'd like you to read it....

I'm looking forward to reading your thread, I love history.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by redsun(m): 5:00pm On Sep 05, 2012
Why is nobody showing pictures?We talk about our stories as if they are myths,because we are showing proofs.It takes oyinbos to research,analyze,theorize and excavate our ruins and past civilizations,when we have archeologists,historians and institutions of higher leaning,or dont we?
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by redsun(m): 5:04pm On Sep 05, 2012
It because we dont know our history,that is why we dont have intergrity and that is we breed headless chickens like tinubu as leaders.And that is why we are in ruins.

We are like people that just dropped from the sky,with no past,no present and no future.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Rossikk(m): 5:27pm On Sep 05, 2012
redsun: Why is nobody showing pictures?We talk about our stories as if they are myths,because we are showing proofs.It takes oyinbos to research,analyze,theorize and excavate our ruins and past civilizations,when we have archeologists,historians and institutions of higher leaning,or dont we?

My brother it's so frustrating. Ok we knew about the Eredo earthworks, the world's largest man made monument. But I had no idea it enclosed A CITY. And now these white guys show up to tell us this. What were our own researchers and archaeologists doing?

I guess we can say they're not well-funded. Even that says something.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Afam4eva(m): 5:30pm On Sep 05, 2012
When will all these lies end for Christ sake...Africa is a third world continent. let's work on making things better than than console ourselves with the fact that we were advanced at one point in our existence.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Rossikk(m): 5:31pm On Sep 05, 2012
^^What ''lies'' are you talking about?

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Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Nobody: 5:33pm On Sep 05, 2012
afam4eva: When will all these lies end for Christ sake...Africa is a third world continent. let's work on making things better than than console ourselves with the fact that we were advanced at one point in our existence.

What lies exactly? The ramparts are there to be seen. And how does this stop you from moving forward? The great wall of China does not stop it from moving forward, does it?

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Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Afam4eva(m): 5:35pm On Sep 05, 2012
Aigbofa:

What lies exactly? The ramparts are there to be seen. And how does this stop you from moving forward? The great wall of China does not stop it from moving forward, does it?
Can we see some pictures?
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Rossikk(m): 5:35pm On Sep 05, 2012
The Book Lugard's Wife Wrote:


'Lady Flora Lugard's book [A Tropical Dependency: An Outline of the Ancient History of the Western Sudan With an Account of the Modern Settlement of Northern Nigeria, 1906] is an extraordinary look at the history of Africa, which she gathered from countless sources, and one would imagine a great deal of it came from the British Library and from the archives of The Times of London, for whom she had for many years been the Foreign Political Correspondent. She had always been known to be an intensive researcher into her subject matter, and one wonders at the months and probably years she put into this undertaking, which became the reference work for so many future books on Africa. This book was first published 100 years ago showing with detail and descriptive power, the greatness that Africa once was. Lady Lugard argues that:

"When the history of Negroland comes to be written in detail, it may be found that the kingdoms lying towards the eastern end of Sudan (classical home of Ancient Ethiopians) were the home of races who inspired, rather than of races who received, the tradition of civilization associated for us with the name of ancient Egypt. For they cover on either side of the Upper Nile between the latitudes of ten degrees and seventeen degrees, territories in which are found monuments more ancient than the oldest Egyptian monuments. If this should prove to be the case and civilized world be forced to recognize in a black people the fount of its original enlightenment, it may happen that we shall have to revise entirely our view of the black races, and regard those who now exist as the decadent representatives of an almost forgotten era, rather than as the embryonic possibility of an era yet to come."

"The fame of the ancient Ethiopians (ancient Kushites) was widespread in ancient history. Herodotus described them as the tallest, most beautiful and long-lived of the human races, and before Herodotus, Homer, in even more flattering language, described them as the most just of men, the favorites of the gods. The annals of all the great early nations of Asia Minor are full of them. The Mosaic records allude to them frequently; but while they are described as the most powerful, the most just, and the most beautiful of the human race, they are constantly spoken of as Black, and there seems to be no other conclusion to be drawn than at that remote period of history, the leading race of the Western World was a Black race."'

Lady Lugard/Flora Shaw Lugard, Asa G. Hilliard, III, A Tropical Dependency: An Outline of the Ancient History of the Western Sudan With an Account of the Modern Settlement of Northern Nigeria, (1906)
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Rossikk(m): 5:37pm On Sep 05, 2012
afam4eva:
Can we see some pictures?
GO ON GOOGLE EARTH. ALSO CHECK GOOGLE EARTH FOR THE BENIN RAMPARTS. You can see these constructions on Google Earth, ie FROM OUTER SPACE. They are THAT huge. The Benin earthworks were constructed on the orders of Oba Ewuare (Ewuare the Great) in the 13th century. The rampart took over 300 years to complete and covers a total of 16,000 sq km, making it the world's largest and most extensive man-built edifice till date.

Do we have the social organisation, political stability, or even the confidence to embark on such an epic project today?
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by gidiMonsta(m): 6:18pm On Sep 05, 2012
afam4eva: When will all these lies end for Christ sake...Africa is a third world continent. let's work on making things better than than console ourselves with the fact that we were advanced at one point in our existence.

How and when did our history become lies? Google is your friend if you want pictures or better still visit the place yourself. I plan to one day when I'm less busy with work.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by gidiMonsta(m): 6:23pm On Sep 05, 2012
Rossikk:
GO ON GOOGLE EARTH. ALSO CHECK GOOGLE EARTH FOR THE BENIN RAMPARTS. You can see these constructions on Google Earth, ie FROM OUTER SPACE. They are THAT huge. The Benin earthworks were constructed on the orders of Oba Ewuare (Ewuare the Great) in the 13th century. The rampart took over 300 years to complete and covers a total of 16,000 sq km, making it the world's largest and most extensive man-made edifice till date.

Do we have the social organisation, political stability, or even the confidence to embark on such an epic project today?


Didn't even know about the Bini ramparts until today. I think we should open a thread about historical sights in Nigeria where people can contribute to, we need to learn about our past, inspire our youths, show them that Africans are not the savages we read about in books.

Once we change our mindset then we can move forward.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by CyberG: 6:50pm On Sep 05, 2012
gidiMonsta:

How and when did our history become lies? Google is your friend if you want pictures or better still visit the place yourself. I plan to one day when I'm less busy with work.

LOL...you better stop wasting your time talking to people like Afam whose stock in trade for falsity and inferiority complex is legendary on this board. Or, don't you know that exposing things like these more completely and shamefully destroy their phantom fallacy and lies about his tribe? This is one fellow who cannot see beyond his narrow, and myopic tribal enclave. grin grin
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by odumchi: 12:26am On Sep 06, 2012
Isn't this supposed to be in the culture section?
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Nobody: 12:31am On Sep 06, 2012
,
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by supereagle(m): 1:16am On Sep 06, 2012
gidiMonsta: Eredo means ditch in Yoruba and this particular ancient city is located in the rain forests of Ijebu.



I'm looking forward to reading your thread, I love history.

There is Eredo in Yewa South in Ogun State along Ilaro - Owode Road.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Ejine(m): 1:29am On Sep 06, 2012
Can't somebody take a little trip down there and feed our eyes with a few pictures atleast? undecided
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by Crayola1: 1:42am On Sep 06, 2012
CyberG:

LOL...you better stop wasting your time talking to people like Afam whose stock in trade for falsity and inferiority complex is legendary on this board. Or, don't you know that exposing things like these more completely and shamefully destroy their phantom fallacy and lies about his tribe? This is one fellow who cannot see beyond his narrow, and myopic tribal enclave. grin grin

The sound of the Grand Nigerian a.s.s in its native habitat.

Can you please tell us the lies about his ethnic group, not tribe or you still believe what Lugard told yoir father?

cheesy
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by CyberG: 2:15am On Sep 06, 2012
Crayola1:

The sound of the Grand Nigerian a.s.s in its native habitat.

Can you please tell us the lies about his ethnic group, not tribe or you still believe what Lugard told yoir father?

cheesy

I know you have no respect for your fathe who gave birth to a useless loser like you! Get the fuc.k out of my face and go mingle with your gutter folks! cool
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by rodeo0070(m): 7:22am On Sep 06, 2012
CyberG:

I know you have no respect for your fathe who gave birth to a useless loser like you! Get the fuc.k out of my face and go mingle with your gutter folks! cool

Its one thing to insult one another but its absurd if you guys decide to take it on your elderly ones hmmm!

Back to the post. Every race is known to be civilized or better still, advanced @ one point or the other. We have the Aztecs, Mayan, Egyptians, the native Americans etc The current advanced sections of the world were once nothing thousands of years ago. It has to do with dynamism especially in the areas of relevance and time.
No kingdom lasts forever...

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Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by rodeo0070(m): 7:23am On Sep 06, 2012
CyberG:

I know you have no respect for your fathe who gave birth to a useless loser like you! Get the fuc.k out of my face and go mingle with your gutter folks! cool
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by CyberG: 7:32am On Sep 06, 2012
rodeo0070:

Its one thing to insult one another but its absurd if you guys decide to take it on your elderly ones hmmm!

Back to the post. Every race is known to be civilized or better still, advanced @ one point or the other. We have the Aztecs, Mayan, Egyptians, the native Americans etc The current advanced sections of the world were once nothing thousands of years ago. It has to do with dynamism especially in the areas of relevance and time.
No kingdom lasts forever...

And you did not see the doofus abuse his father first but you saw mine? Don't be a hypocritical judge.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by rodeo0070(m): 8:18am On Sep 06, 2012
CyberG:

And you did not see the doofus abuse his father first but you saw mine? Don't be a hypocritical judge.
Cyberg I'm not judging u or anyone. Even so, u don't H̲̣̣̣̥ɑ̤̥̈̊vє̲̣̥ to reply him in a bit, if he did insulted ur Dad.
Re: Eredo: The Largest City In The Ancient World by spendogram: 9:06am On Sep 06, 2012
Rossikk:

My brother it's so frustrating. Ok we knew about the Eredo earthworks, the world's largest man made monument. But I had no idea it enclosed A CITY. And now these white guys show up to tell us this. What were our own researchers and archaeologists doing?

I guess we can say they're not well-funded. Even that says something.
@Rossikke,
I really admire your passion. I use to think it was just paranoia but I now see it is just pure passion. Keep up the good work bro.

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