Benin: How The Mighty Benin Kingdom Lost Its Bronzes
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In terms of quality and condition, it s hard to beat — a 3,000-year-old bronze Irish horn
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B
ENIN CITY, or Edo as it was known in its heyday at the start of the 17th century, was a confident metropolis, a place of creativity and military power. In 1600 a Dutch visitor described an impressive central avenue seven or eight times broader than Warmoesstraat, one of the main shopping streets in Amsterdam, and a palace for the Oba
, or head of the ruling dynasty, “so large, that you can feel no End”. The walls were decorated with ivory sculptures and elaborate metal plaques depicting hunters, musicians, courtiers and animals including leopards, elephants and crocodiles.
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30 years after declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, Somaliland can take pride in an impressive but not flawless democratisation record. Since 2002, the people of Somaliland have participated in six multi-party elections: three presidential elections (2003, 2010 and 2017) and two district council elections (2002 and 2012), but only one parliamentary (2005), and none for the House of Elders (
Guurti). At last, combined local council and parliamentary elections will take place on 31 May 2021, respectively four years and eleven years after they were due.
The repeated postponements of elections have at times caused political tensions and uncertainty. This has undermined Somaliland’s democratisation process, weakened public confidence in democracy, stalled institution-building and reforms, and damaged the country’s relationship with the international community.