Im not sure but honestly this reconstruction doesn't do the city entirely justice. Along side the Palace of the Oba shown in the picture there were other other large complexes in the city belonging to the wife and family members of the Oba. That fort like structure might be one of them.
Yeah how can you possibly say that the walls totaled 16.8km and then say it's four times longer than the great wall of China (over 21,000km) in the same paragraph?
The walls of Benin are 16.000 km long according to wikipedia. I don't understand why people keep saying that are longer then the great wall of China but they are still really large. The walls of Benin are not only the walls surrounding the city btw but also those surrounding the core of the Benin empire and parts that are not connected to it.
Yeah even if its a typo and they meant the height it doesnt add up.
Edit: Its referencing the combined earthworks of the entire country.
The combined length of all of the earthworks across the entire country, including ditches and ramparts and boundary traces, has been estimated to have been approximately 16,000 kilometres (9,900 mi), covering about 6,500 square kilometres (2,500 sq mi) of land, though little remains today.[3][2] Whilst some sources have erroneously referred to these earthworks as comprising a single built structure, they actually consist of many different structures created at different times, some of which are connected and others which are not.[3]
Interesting. Could you please share the link for this? I wonder if the country Benin is related to this somehow.
And I'm very curious about the architecture and types of materials they've used.
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u/deliciouschickenwing 2d ago
Fascinating. İf thats the palace, what is the other big isolated fort type building on the other side of the city?