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Description
Dimensions: H:15.4" W:4.3" L:3.9" Weight: 4.6 lbs.
Sao/Kotoko Tribe Bronze Bell – The Kotoko people, who live mainly around Lake Chad in parts of Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria, are descendants of the ancient Sao civilization. The Sao were skilled metalworkers between the 6th and 16th centuries CE, and their tradition of bronze art has been passed down to the Kotoko. They made bronze items like church bells, animal figures (such as horses, lions, and chickens), and other small figurines. These objects were often used in religious or ceremonial settings. Bronze pieces also served as amulets, were placed in graves, or used as status symbols. Many people believed they had protective or spiritual power.
About the Tribe
The Kotoko are a Chadic ethnic group who live in the south of Lake Chad, near the lower Logone and Chari Rivers, northern Cameroon and Nigeria. They governed a West African kingdom that ruled over wide swaths of northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria until the Kanuri of the Bornu kingdom overcame them in the 15th century. The Kotoko can trace their history back to the Sao people, who were early inhabitants of the Lake Chad region who converted to Islam in the 16th century.
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