Bronze roped pot from Igbo Ukwu
A Time to Plant
Igbo Ukwu is the Nigerian site where artifacts from the 9th or 10th century have been found, including the amazing roped pot.
“Dated to the 9th or 10th century C.E. (A.D.) Igbo Ukwu represents one of the earliest examples of bronze casting in sub-Saharan Africa,” according to the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art.
Do look at their website to see other bronzes discovered in Igbo Ukwu. They also provide clear descriptions.
The town of Igbo Ukwu, very near to Clem’s hometown of Nanka, is also the site of a recent event marking a movement of resurgent Igbo culture.
Now is the planting season in southern Nigeria. The Harmattan is over, the excessive heat of February and March is past, and the rains have probably already begun; if not they will begin soon.
Mbido Igbo Association arranged a ritual planting in Igbo Ukwu a few days ago. There were traditional rulers, masquerades, government officials, and even the Catholic bishop of the diocese!
The organizers say that in the past, “the farmers invoked the spirit world for blessings on their toil and sweat believing that if the gods did not accept their sacrifice before the planting season, they will have a very poor harvest thereby leading to famine with severe consequences.”
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/igbo-begin-new-planting-season/
Yam seedlings were provided for men to plant, and pumpkin and corn seedlings were given to women.
Farmer checking his new yam plants.
After presentation of kola, a goat, and yams, the Bishop blessed the planting. Then the assembly proceeded to the farm where, “the priest, elders, [and] traditional rulers took turn[s] to plant the yam seedlings in the mounds” that had been prepared ahead of time.
The women who had been given seedlings also planted theirs. Everyone has “high hopes of returning in the month of August for the harvest and New Yam festival,” the article in Sun Nigeria said.
There was also groundbreaking for an arts pavilion planned for the site.
It was the same as we do with ceremonial shovels in the ground by dignitaries for a new building or major renovation.
We will often do this in connection with a capital campaign. I have capital campaigns on my mind, since our church is planning for a possible campaign to begin soon for needed building renovations.
And I’m sure that will happen in Paris in a few years!
Churches Burning
I can imagine that you were as shocked as I was by the fire at Notre Dame in Paris. My daughter sent me a text in the afternoon; I hadn’t yet heard.
I visited Notre Dame Cathedral ages ago; I don’t remember when, but I know I did. My husband also had been to the cathedral during a vaction when he was in England.
Do you recall visiting the historic cathedral?
Several wealthy French have already pledged funds to assist with rebuilding and Macron has said it will be rebuilt. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.
My niece Nonso pointed out on Facebook that this outpouring of commitments for an accidental fire in Europe left her cold.
Yes, Notre Dame is an icon, a historic cathedral. But the US also lost iconic churches recently. These were important for their historic and social significance.
“Three historically black churches have burned in less than two weeks in one south Louisiana parish, where officials said they had found ‘suspicious elements’ in each case. The officials have not ruled out the possibility of arson, or the possibility that the fires are related,” I read on the GoFundMe page.
And it turns out the Notre Dame fire encouraged donors to give for these churches, “thousands of miles away that were recently destroyed by arson,” according to The New York Times article yesterday.
So it looks like the Lousiana churches may be able to rebuild as well.
Reparations, Part II
Thank you to those who commented on the question of reparations that I raised in my last post.
I was surprised to see The New York Times article yesterday that described reparations paid to slave owners to compensate them for the loss of their property! I had no idea.
“On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill emancipating enslaved people in Washington, the end of a long struggle. But to ease slaveowners’ pain, the District of Columbia Emancipation Act paid those loyal to the Union up to $300 for every enslaved person freed.”
The payment was based on the Fifth Amendment requiring recompense for government seizure of private property!
“Enslaved African-Americans got nothing for their generations of stolen bodies, snatched children and expropriated labor other than their mere release from legal bondage,” the article says.
It was the only time the federal government paid slaveowners. But the colonial government in earlier times and local and state bodies had paid slaveholders, “when enslaved women and men ran away, participated in rebellions or were executed for crimes.”
When the question of reparations comes up today, the article says, “critics and skeptics are fond of saying that enslaved people should have asked for recompense” at the time of emancipation.
They did. But they were never successful. They didn’t even get the forty acres and a mule they were promised.
