HistoryThe Igbo appear to have settled in their present area thousands of years ago possibly from Egypt/Sudan.
The origin of the Igbo people is still a subject of speculation and debate. To give some directions in the issue, we must look at Nigeria's oldest Kingdom, the Nri Kingdom as well as oral tradition (through sometimes fragmentary) and genetics and linguistics.
, like any group of people, they are anxious to discover their origin and reconstruct how they came to be how they are. , their experiences under colonialsim and since Nigeria’s Independence have emphasized for them the reality of their group identity which they want to anchor into authenticated history.
Analysis of the sources available has led researchers to the Nri Kingdom. The Nri Kingdom is the oldest Kingdom in what is now known as Nigeria today. Exact dating of its establishment is not known and made even more obscure since modern day popular dating of the Nri Kingdom, 900AD, conflicts with the establishment of another in Nigeria, the Benin Kingdom which is also popularly dated to 900AD. Via Igbo oral tradition and studies and anthropological evidences, the Nri Kingdom was founded by the progenitor Eri(or Eru). Nri (founder of the Nri-Clan) was the son of Eri.
Speculation of the origin of the Igbo beings when one starts to trace the origin of Eri. By archeological account, in around 2345BC in Ancient Egypt, "M-Eru-ka (or Eru/Eri)" became a high priest to Pharaoh Teti. Because of this, the Egyptian origin of the Igbo people as many have insisted is also backed by linguistic evidences proving many Egyptian words survive in Igbo today and has led researchers to focus in this area.
According to Eze Nri, Nri-Enwelana II, the "Nri Kingdom is the oldest Kingdom in Nigeria. It was founded around 900AD by the progenitor, Eri, the son of Gad. According to biblical accounts, Jacob had Leah as his wife who begot four sons for him. When Leah noticed she had passed child-bearing age, she gave her maid – servant, Zilpah to Jacob to wife, and through Zilpah he had a son named Gad. Gad then bigot Eri, who later formed a clan known as Erites vide Genesis Chapter 30 verse 9; 46 verse 16 and Numbers chapter 26 verses 15-19. Eri was therefore amongst the twelve tribes of Israel via Gad."
"During their stay in Egypt
Eri became the high priest and spiritual adviser to
Pharaoh Teti, the fifth dynastic king of Egypt around 2400 BC."
"During the Exodus, which marked the beginning of the mass movement of the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Eri was amongst the tribe that left Egypt following the injunction from God to the Israelites (see
Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses 58 – 68). Some of these tribes founded settlements in the southern part of Sudan, where they established the “Nok” culture, which is similar to that of other (sun Cult) culture, like Nri, Fiji, Samoa, and Jukun in the Northern part of Nigeria and elsewhere.
But others who could not remain in the Southern Sudan traveled further South, some branched off to Jukun, in Northern part of Nigeria, others continued and arrived at the confluence of Rivers Niger and Anambara known as “Ezu-na-Ọmambala” and settled there while some veered off to the Island of Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean. An intelligence report notes that the Fijians have the same sun culture with the people of Nri."
"However, the Hebriac/Egyptian origins theory is the official account of the present Eze Nri, Nri-Enwelana II, who went further to trace Eri’s origin to the biblical Eri (the son of Gad, the son of Jacob)."In addition to the pattern of evidences of migration from Egypt, other people also entered the Igbo territory in about the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. Many of these people still exhibit different characteristics from that of the traditional Igbo people – for example geographical marginality, the institution of kingship, a hierarchical title system.
The Igbo word "Igbo" is now used in three senses, to describe Igbo territory, to identify the Igbo people (whether they speak the Igbo language or not) and to Identify the language spoken by Igbo people.(see (A.E. Afigbo,1981: Ropes of Sand, Caxton Press,Ibadan. and T. Shaw:1970; "Igbo Ukwu: An Account of Archaeological Discoveries in Eastern Nigeria", Faber and Faber, pp. 268-285).
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