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Hello and welcome to Dead Funny History, the show that brings the past back to life.
Literally.
I'm Greg Jenner, I'm a historian and I want to tell you about something cool.
Well, up to a point.
The Kingdom of Benin was a fascinating and powerful kingdom in what is now southern Nigeria in West Africa,
and it stretched from the late 12th century all the way to the 19th century.
The capital city was once known as Edo, which also refers to both the people and the language.
Isn't Edo in Japan?
Yeah, Edo's also the old name for Tokyo in Japan, but that's a totally different Edo.
This Edo was on the west coast of Africa, and today is still called the Edo State in Nigeria,
and the modern capital of that state is Benin City.
However, the Kingdom of Benin had its origins in the 900s,
when people were living in small rainforest communities,
with leaders called Ogysos, which meant rulers of the sky.
Cool name.
See that up there?
What?
The clouds?
I rule those.