Human Sacrifice in Yoruba

Description

Anna Martin Hinderer (1827–1870) was a British missionary to Ibadan in Nigeria. In 1852, she and her husband, David, set out to establish a new mission in the Bight of Benin hinterland. Anna briefly stayed at Abeokuta. In 1853, she arrived in Ibadan where they built a Christian settlement. In the 1850s, David estimated Ibadan's population was around 55,000. Anna would teach in the school that they built and she would run the mission when David was away preaching or trying to translate the New Testament. Her husband could speak Yoruba and he was on good terms with the local dignitaries. This advantage meant that the children of local chiefs attended and sometimes boarded at the school which Anna ran. The first two Christian converts were Yejide and Akielle who were the son and daughter of a local chief. Although the engraving is from the mid nineteenth century, this image depicts a man kneeling on the ground about to be beheaded by a man dressed with a sword. The commotion in the background makes the scene look like a battlefield with another prisoner of war being led to his execution.

Citation

"Human Sacrifice in Yoruba", Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African Diaspora, accessed September 22, 2023, http://yorubadiaspora.org/s/yorubadiaspora/item/3464
Anna Martin Hinderer (1827–1870) was a British missionary to Ibadan in Nigeria. In 1852, she and her husband, David, set out to establish a new mission in the Bight of Benin hinterland. Anna briefly stayed at Abeokuta. In 1853, she arrived in Ibadan where they built a Christian settlement. In the 1850s, David estimated Ibadan's population was around 55,000. Anna would teach in the school that they built and she would run the mission when David was away preaching or trying to translate the New Testament. Her husband could speak Yoruba and he was on good terms with the local dignitaries. This advantage meant that the children of local chiefs attended and sometimes boarded at the school which Anna ran. The first two Christian converts were Yejide and Akielle who were the son and daughter of a local chief. Although the engraving is from the mid nineteenth century, this image depicts a man kneeling on the ground about to be beheaded by a man dressed with a sword. The commotion in the background makes the scene look like a battlefield with another prisoner of war being led to his execution.
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