[img]http://4.bp..com/_jeBv7EEofYQ/TRsv3fiNjHI/AAAAAAAAAOY/LYYIPx1CqRU/s400/Ikperikpe%2Bogu.jpg[/img]




[img]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSfLsKYrxFiUKUcivCGgSk4RHjDdVDmCvHEGS0d2GsNAvH168Ex[/img]



^genius




[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/373845_Igbo_maiden_spirit_performers-535x730_jpg3926912d3429909bd1c57f312c3ed42e[/img]

Abagworo:

A Study of the Slave and Palm Produce Trade amongst the Ngwa-Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria. 
J. N. Oriji

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/cea_0008-0055_1983_num_23_91_2249

Among the Igbos of Nigeria 1912

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qKNOfk4pmmMC&pg=PT92&lpg=PT92&dq=nsude+pyramids+of+agbaja&source=bl&ots=JBLRvYasOk&sig=CVR-sn-psHcImY8c3HzogtKbkwo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pKi8UYWbDdH0sgas1oGAAQ&redir_esc=y

Thanks, I will digest and probably do some analysis

Ikengawo: OP, coming to Nairaland for this type of question was your first mistake. Too many on here are frustrated and want to up their tribe because they have no personal achievements of their own to speak of. At the same time they want to tear down other tribes because of jealousy


Pre-Colonial Igbo land is the most well documented portion of precolonial nigeria due to an extensive history of achievement.

Check out
[img]http://annbib.files./2011/09/equiano.jpg[/img]
He writes of daily life in pre-colonial igbo land, everything from customs, to interactions, values etc. This is also the first modern autobiography written by a black man.

There was also the Nri theocracy: Nri was the most power oracle in Igbo land. It sent it's priests throughout Igbo land and beyond to preach and spread it's religion. Though they believed in the influences of many gods of the land, worship was reserved for the supreme god Chukwu, which made it a rare african mono-theistic faith. The priests would also spread the edicts and rules of their refined version of Odinani and through this held influence throughout Igbo land. Dominating Igbo land wasn't easy at that time, but to do with without weapons (Nri Odiniani preached complete pacifism and did not believe in war). They also believed in total equality of men, and thus outcasts (Osu) and slaves that made a pilgrimage to Nri were purified and became equal to all of the Amadi (free men/men of the land). It wasn't until the british destroyed the oracle that it's influence weened but the oracle is reported to be the oldest living civilization in Nigeria
[img]https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQNjlFw_EJ-_IEA8B69bvZr1XGs6TTbE5MmLE4BYC5d_z0jbiE3[/img]
[img]https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTfp90TrPrmt4_WayL_ugYt18zstem15Su1URDN6GcCm0oN2cPy6Q[/img]


Igbo Ukwu: It was revealed by a highly sophisiticated collection of bronze works discovered in Igbo land that there was an advanced civilization that pre-dates any other in Nigeria. What's significant about the findings was a burial site of what appears to have either been a great man or great king now known as Igbo Ukwu. Not only did he have a large collection of cultural artifacts buried with him, but also glass and bead works from India and the middle east.
What's significant about this is the fact that the bronze works of this civilization used a lose wax technique ONLY used in west africa and are the first signs of use for the technique, meaning that it was Igbo land that entered the bronze age before anyone else in Africa, and completely independently (the works pre-date any other african bronze work but hundreds of years). The uniqueness and detail of the bronze and iron works till this day go with precedent
[img]http://2.bp..com/-xsplCKTvPxg/TvJNwex0ijI/AAAAAAAAAJM/xMluzWFIrNE/s1600/igbo%2Bpyramid.JPG[/img]
[img]https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcThNagVzCy8LsWQ_onhgUa7rEGQPFGdCjDKxgV-oZNNl_UplPnC7g[/img]

[img]http://3.bp..com/-Map7aGn4U0Y/Tb4YUanM8OI/AAAAAAAAAGI/SomtPXSvsBQ/s1600/igbo+ukwu+bronze2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQuuCWMlNNoKrPrf7ftJV2_2CBTwUkB4P-53qRTaXxiSeenRogk[/img]

[img]http://igbonomics.files./2013/04/igbo-torus.png[/img]



[img]http://hum.lss.wisc.edu/hjdrewal/aa241f5.jpg[/img]

Aro-Chukwu Confederacy was a war-like expansionist culture that rose up in what is now Abia state and established and empire that came to dominate ibibios, Kalabaris, and other Igbo cultures.

Aro-chukwu was a republic, which was rare in Africa and like most of igbo land did not practice monarchy. They had the advantage of sophisticated organizational tactics and most importantly, writing.
[img]http://3.bp..com/-JDrYoqE1xfg/TaOWd3WKC9I/AAAAAAAAATA/N8CM831_HRk/s1600/d.jpg[/img]
Nsibidi was a trans-tribal hieroglyphic writing style that came to be the first written form of Igbo. Nsibidi allowed Aro-chukwu to communicated at greater distances, organize more efficiently, and dominate the tribes and groups they came to conquer. Nsidibi is the only form of writing in Nigeria that doesn't have an external influence, and stands alone as one of the only forms of pre-colonial writing in the entirety of africa and one of the only forms of writing with on external influence in the history of mankind. Originally developed by the Ekpe secret society for it's members to communicate, Aro-chukwu used it for expansion, war and organization, becoming the dominate force in Igbo land when the British arrived.

Read of the Aro-Ibibio wars as well, it details the military prowess and sophistication of the Aro-chukwu.

[img]http://2.bp..com/_IlMalPFZ8lw/TRSscrXNQjI/AAAAAAAAAcc/POKz6HAxKMI/S1600-R/MbokoEkpeVisitsH%2B%25282%2529.jpg[/img]

Nice Bro, where can i get this book

Are there documents on early interaction with other tribes e. g igbo - middle belt, Igbo - hausa, igbo - yoruba or igbo - Cameroun

In terms of trade and culture

[img]http://4.bp..com/-bZsO3ClZ8HY/TqScx4R-vCI/AAAAAAAAAs4/XNqt-otWABY/s400/AN00053597_001_l.jpg[/img]
[img]http://1.bp..com/-JhB-7O6K1Es/TcDBclP8XXI/AAAAAAAAAWI/qzcIXC1JDac/s400/Asaba%2BMan.jpg[/img]
[img]http://1.bp..com/-Gfp5RpJnGDY/T8ViXYIknxI/AAAAAAAAA9E/pWEmpIVUQ-Y/s400/Asaba%2Bmen.jpg[/img]





^pre-colonial currency



[img]http://3.bp..com/-2QRBbBKBB8I/Tqdw8qlnpDI/AAAAAAAAAwY/H7s6_nHOHPw/s1600/yam%2Bbarn.jpg[/img]
[img]http://igbocybershrine.files./2011/11/01-38omenyi_lge.jpeg?w=432&h=672[/img]
[img]https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=OphZj0l1CyQgRM&tbnid=gvE01us93puCgM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcultofknotcraft.tumblr.com%2Fpage%2F3&ei=h7W8UbrSJ8WdyQHokoDQCQ&bvm=bv.47883778,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNH5fTEbK1uR9obpBR5CZwARBHWJVg&ust=1371408129878786[/img]
[img]http://2.bp..com/-w65Fym20lzc/Tpb0vqBb_cI/AAAAAAAAAok/IfCLviEPiY4/s1600/models.jpg[/img]

Obiagelli: Are there documents on early interaction with other tribes e. g igbo - middle belt, Igbo - hausa, igbo - yoruba or igbo - Cameroun

In terms of trade and culture

I'm also interested in reading to see this as well

the Benin Yoruba and Igbos all depicted northerners in their art, typically with a horse.
I don't know about any Yoruba and Igbo interactions, but I know that the Benin and Igbos have fought many wars and it's said that Onitcha was founded by Bini people's fleeing a tyrant Oba.
There's also the story of King Jaja, and igbo slave in Ijaw Bonny island that became the king of the island.

Obiagelli:
Nice Bro, where can i get this book

Try Amazon. I read it because it was in my university library! very interest read

Some things i learned were

-Pre-colonial igbos were very paranoid about getting poisoned. If you buy food from someone it was custom for them to kisst the food multiple times to prove it wasn't poisoned

-Dark skin was considered beautiful and light skin was considered ugly

-The closer a village was to the Oba of Benin the more under it's influence it was

-everything functioned in a republican democratic fashion

-He documented that everyone was exceptionally cheerful

-All women were virgins until marriage

-details on the four market days.

Nsibidi was a trans-tribal hieroglyphic writing
style that came to be the first written form of
Igbo. Nsibidi allowed Aro-chukwu to
communicated at greater distances, organize
more efficiently, and dominate the tribes and
groups they came to conquer

This form of writing is truly amazing, do we still have people who can write and interpret it.

Alfa Seltzer: [size=14pt]I can see that Dayokanu has brought out his family album.[/size]

Lmaooooooooooooo. This comment was absolutely unexpected. My neighbors will think am crazy today.

Ikengawo:

Try Amazon. I read it because it was in my university library! very interest read

Some things i learned were

-Pre-colonial igbos were very paranoid about getting poisoned. If you buy food from someone it was custom for them to kisst the food multiple times to prove it wasn't poisoned

-Dark skin was considered beautiful and light skin was considered ugly

-The closer a village was to the Oba of Benin the more under it's influence it was

-everything functioned in a republican democratic fashion

-He documented that everyone was exceptionally cheerful

-All women were virgins until marriage

-details on the four market days.

I have read quite a bit about Nri an ancient Igbo city-state, they were very functional and live around anambra of today. I would surely get this book.

Obiagelli:
This form of writing is truly amazing, do we still have people who can write and interpret it.

all over igbo land but it's not wide spread and primarily among the secret societies that used it.

Ikengawo:

Nsidibi is the only form of writing in Nigeria that doesn't have an external influence, and stands alone as one of the only forms of pre-colonial writing in the entirety of africa and one of the only forms of writing with on external influence in the history of mankind.

I think you're making some pretty wild claims there.

But great pics.

Ikengawo:
all over igbo land but it's not wide spread and primarily among the secret societies that used it.

Nsibidi used to be quite common as a writing script in pre-colonial Igboland all the way to the Cross River region and beyond. Schools existed where children were taught Nsibidi. It was the colonial invasions which put a halt to the spread of the writing form, with its use banned by the British, and its users driven underground. Such that today the custodians of the script are the priests of traditional cults.


Below is a gravestone from 1770s Virginia, USA, on which an epitaph to a comrade was written by slaves in Nsibidi.

...........................................................................


Excerpt:

''A cemetery in George Washington National Forest in Amherst County, Va., is a good example. For decades, observers have commented that the gravestones had “strange marks.” Recently, these marks have been identified by this writer as African ideograms originating in Nigeria. The gravestones are inscribed with what appears to be Nsibidi, an Igbo writing system, confirming the survival of Igbo traditions during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Made of high-quality blue slate indigenous to the area and mined from a local quarry, the stones show little damage from weather or time. Subsequently, the place was named the “Seventeen Stones Cemetery.”

The stones were probably engraved between 1770 to 1830, when the Igbo Diaspora was at its height in Virginia. At that time, the Igbo people comprised approximately 70 percent of the blacks in Virginia, a larger percentage than in any other Southern state.

A star symbol at the top of one stone, signifying “congress” or “unity” has similarities to the Kongo cosmogram that depicts the life cycle of birth, life, death and the afterlife. The cosmogram symbol has equal perpendicular crossbars or lines, sometimes contained in a diamond shape or a circle. Here, the linear symbol in the lower register appears to be a combination of the sign for “individual” and “this land is mine.” Together the signs mean the deceased has joined the realm of the ancestors. Both symbols are enclosed in a rectangle, denoting their association. A line separating the symbols emphasizes they are separate but one.

Igbo ideograms were important elements of religious practice and served as mnemonic devices associated with religion and with moral and historical narratives. In Igbo death and burial traditions, Nsibidi symbols honoring the ancestors were thought to protect the deceased. The most appropriate place to honor one’s forefathers was the cemetery. At times, the deceased were consulted for help with day-to-day problems. Items such as chickens, rum and schnapps were offered as gifts for the deceased during a grave-side ceremony.

In the Seventeen Stones Cemetery, an iron pot was found set into the ground, suggesting the possibility of ancestral worship at this site. Historical sources describe how slaves worshiped in the forest by talking to a pot — the retainer for words and thoughts that could not be made public. African inscriptions and accompanying religious practices were outlawed during the period of enslavement. Creating such symbols was punishable by death because of its association with witchcraft. Hence, few examples of African ideograms still exist in the United States.

A cemetery in George Washington National Forest in Amherst County, Va., is a good example. For decades, observers have commented that the gravestones had “strange marks.” Recently, these marks have been identified by this writer as African ideograms originating in Nigeria. The gravestones are inscribed with what appears to be Nsibidi, an Igbo writing system, confirming the survival of Igbo traditions during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Made of high-quality blue slate indigenous to the area and mined from a local quarry, the stones show little damage from weather or time. Subsequently, the place was named the “Seventeen Stones Cemetery.”

The stones were probably engraved between 1770 to 1830, when the Igbo Diaspora was at its height in Virginia. At that time, the Igbo people comprised approximately 70 percent of the blacks in Virginia, a larger percentage than in any other Southern state.

A star symbol at the top of one stone, signifying “congress” or “unity” has similarities to the Kongo cosmogram that depicts the life cycle of birth, life, death and the afterlife. The cosmogram symbol has equal perpendicular crossbars or lines, sometimes contained in a diamond shape or a circle. Here, the linear symbol in the lower register appears to be a combination of the sign for “individual” and “this land is mine.” Together the signs mean the deceased has joined the realm of the ancestors. Both symbols are enclosed in a rectangle, denoting their association. A line separating the symbols emphasizes they are separate but one.

Igbo ideograms were important elements of religious practice and served as mnemonic devices associated with religion and with moral and historical narratives. In Igbo death and burial traditions, Nsibidi symbols honoring the ancestors were thought to protect the deceased. The most appropriate place to honor one’s forefathers was the cemetery. At times, the deceased were consulted for help with day-to-day problems. Items such as chickens, rum and schnapps were offered as gifts for the deceased during a grave-side ceremony.''



http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=74750255

One of the greatest asset of Ndigbo was then was our indigenous art of writing. Called Nsibidi. Pictures of that will come later.
Agriculture. We produced hoes and machetes locally for farming. The rivers and lakes in Igboland were utilised for farming eg Imo river, Ebonyi, asa, Orashi, Anambara, Oji, Oguta, Niger etc.
Sports: wrestling, hunting, running similar to long distance racing. Games such as itu okwe, nchoroko, lifting of heavy objects etc.
Economics: trade by barter and later introduction of ego kirikiri (shells), long distance trading, market centres eg Isinweke, Nkwo Ihitte, Nkwo Orji, Afo Ogbe, Eke Elelenwa etc. weaving of baskets, mats, thatch for roofing etc.
Religion. Construction of thanksgiving centres and other centres of intercession .
Education: training of traditional midwives, traditional healers and diviners, casket making, masons and wood carvers.
Ndigbo were involved in almost every activity of daily living. But did not have knowledge of aeroplanes and few other things.

Poor kid. Your thread is better off in the culture section.

TouchDown: Poor kid. Your thread is better off in the culture section.

What makes you think he is poor?

If there is incarnation, is there any way to ensure that I come back to this world as an Igbo man?

Ikengawo: Nsidibi is the only form of writing in Nigeria that doesn't have an external influence, and stands alone as one of the only forms of pre-colonial writing in the entirety of africa and one of the only forms of writing with on external influence in the history of mankind.

Ike, I think you are delirious.

What you call nsibidi is common all over Africa.They are marks etched into earthenwares or woven into fabric prints or sometimes engraved into mud huts. You might also find thnm in caves or on mortar surfaces. These are symbols of identification for various household objects, landscape fixtures, celestial bodies, animals and the general ecology.

Every culture and ethnicity have these marks and are used for communicating thoughts. Yoruba adire is full of them Yoruba tattoos have multiple symbols communicating different things and they are ancient. Hausas have them in abundance and when you visit their old city walls, the ones that have not been renovated and painted over you will see them. Im sure Bini people have their own, the Igala, the Tapas, the Kanuris....and so on.