Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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Edo

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Osanobua, the supreme creator, Olokun, lord of the sea and of wealth, and Ogun, lord of iron and of the hunt, in their Edo, or Bini, forms as addressed by the people of the historic Benin Kingdom in southern Nigeria. These figures parallel deities of the neighbouring Yoruba orisha tradition but are attested independently in Edo oral history, court ritual and the bronze and ivory art of the Benin royal court, which depicted Olokun and royal ancestors long before European contact in the fifteenth century.

Facts
Structure
Structure of the Pantheon
A supreme creator above a working order of intermediary powers 1
Divine Headship
A supreme creator who withdrew from active rule and receives little direct cult 1
Succession Between Divine Generations
One divine generation; no succession between generations is recorded 1
The Creator and the Ruling Gods
The creator withdrew after making the world and is seldom addressed in cult 1
Attestation
Era of Attestation
1400 to 2026 1
Era of Attestation
Attested from Edo oral tradition in the Kingdom of Benin, documented in the outside record from Portuguese contact in the fifteenth century CE, continuing today. 1
Veneration Today
Actively venerated in a living tradition 1
Cult
Principal Cult Centre
Benin City, where the royal ancestral altars stand in the palace of the Oba, with Olokun shrines kept through Edo country 1
Organisation
Membership of the Pantheon
Every place, clan and lineage adds its own 1
How Mortals Enter the Pantheon
Ancestors and founders become objects of cult 1
Sources
Primary Source
Oral tradition held within Edo lineages and the palace societies, with the royal art of Benin as a documentary record and published ethnography 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Benin, Countries

This source names Benin directly: "by the people of the historic Benin Kingdom in southern Nigeria."

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Nigeria, Countries

Its own cited description places the Edo in southern Nigeria.

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source
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