Benin moats
E345736
The Benin moats are an extensive system of earthworks and defensive ditches surrounding the historic Kingdom of Benin, renowned as one of the largest man-made structures in precolonial Africa.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Benin earthworks | 1 |
| Benin moats canonical | 1 |
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
archaeological site
ⓘ
cultural heritage site ⓘ system of defensive earthworks ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Benin Iya
ⓘ
Benin moats ⓘ
surface form:
Benin earthworks
Benin City walls ⓘ
surface form:
Walls of Benin
|
| approximateLength | over 15,000 kilometres (historical estimates) ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
Benin City urban planning
ⓘ
Oba of Benin ⓘ |
| constructedBy |
Edo people
ⓘ
Kingdom of Benin ⓘ |
| country | Nigeria ⓘ |
| culturalSignificance |
evidence of complex precolonial urbanism
ⓘ
symbol of Benin Kingdom power ⓘ |
| currentCondition |
partially destroyed
ⓘ
partially preserved ⓘ |
| describedAs | one of the largest man-made structures in precolonial Africa ⓘ |
| encloses |
Benin City
ⓘ
surface form:
Benin City core area
surrounding rural settlements ⓘ |
| feature |
concentric earthwork rings
ⓘ
deep ditches ⓘ high inner banks ⓘ |
| hasPart |
earthen banks
ⓘ
moats ⓘ ramparts ⓘ |
| heritageStatus | on UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List ⓘ |
| locatedIn |
Benin City
ⓘ
Edo State NERFINISHED ⓘ Nigeria ⓘ |
| locatedInTimeZone |
West Africa Time (WAT)
ⓘ
surface form:
West Africa Time
|
| materialUsed |
earth
ⓘ
laterite soil ⓘ |
| partOf | cultural landscape of Benin City ⓘ |
| purpose |
control of movement and trade routes
ⓘ
defense ⓘ demarcation of territory ⓘ |
| recognizedBy | archaeologists as major engineering achievement ⓘ |
| region | West Africa ⓘ |
| significantExpansion |
13th century
ⓘ
15th century ⓘ |
| startTime | around 800 CE ⓘ |
| surrounds |
Kingdom of Benin
ⓘ
surface form:
historic Kingdom of Benin
|
| threatenedBy |
erosion
ⓘ
unregulated construction ⓘ urban expansion ⓘ |
| UNESCOTentativeListSince | 1995 ⓘ |
| usedUntil | 19th century ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Benin earthworks