A lot of people don't know this, but many Haitians descend from the people of the Benin kingdom,

which was located in what is now Southern Nigeria.

My personal ancestry test came back 28% Nigerian, and I found out that the Benin bronzes, the

precious artwork from this kingdom, would be on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

The Kingdom of Benin existed from about 1100 AD to 1897 when it fell.

What happened in 1897?

Well, British forces invaded the kingdom.

And during that raid, which killed thousands of people, the British stole thousands of

these bronzes and never returned them.

My name is Baudelaire, and this is Atlas Obscura.

A celebration of the world's strange, incredible, and wondrous places.

Today, we are both in Boston, Massachusetts, and Benin City, Nigeria, to show how a few

thousand sculptures can mean so much to a nation and its people.

More after this.

The objects in this gallery date from the 15th to the 19th century, owned by a succession

of kings, these work-o-art adorned sacred authors and odd visiting courtiers and diplomats.

Many date to the 16th century when Benin was at its zenith.

When I got to the museum, the first bronzes I saw were these two sculptures of heads from

the neck up.

I'd say they were a little smaller than life-size, and they were kind of a dark copper

color.

The Benin bronzes aren't made of copper, though, aside from bronze, they're also made

...