Ancestral shrine, House of the Oghiamien, Benin City, Nigeria

"Benin City and the palace of the Oba are marked out by shrines which articulate the role and traditions of the Oba and his predecessors as rulers of the city and the kingdom. Throughout the city there are also domestic shrines, found in many households despite the active proselytizing of Christianity in all its forms during this century. Apart from the ancestral and other shrines devoted to the domestic household, there are also personal shrines set up by individuals to various deities and other spiritual agencies with which they have entered into a relationship." [Gore Ch., 1998: Ritual, Performance and Media in Urban Contemporary Shrine Configurations in Benin City, Nigeria; Ritual, Performance, Media. pp.66-84. Routledge]. During his trip to Nigeria, Elisofon visited Benin City in the Edo region. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon traveled to Africa from March 17, 1970 to July 17, 1970.