Into Ancestorhood: Death as Continuity in Traditional West African Art

Another way that we can see the fluidity between life and death is in the prevalence of issues relating to death in everyday life.  In her book, The Royal Arts of Africa, Blier describes an idea of the royal palace as, "the cosmological meeting place of sky, earth, and water".  To the Benin, who she is specifically discussing, as well as other West African peoples, this represents an idea of the palace as the place where the life of everyday people interacts with that of the dead; those from the watery other world.  This combining of powers and worlds seems to be that which is attributed as giving the rulers and kings there immense power, which in turn determines the shape of the townspeople's life.  This connection between the king and the ancestors is also seen in the animal symbolism of royal art and architecture. [4]
     Birds were used extensively in royal art by the Benin peoples.  Blier speculates that they-like the crocodile, mud fish, and python-were seen as reflecting the duality of the kings position; as a tie between the living and the dead and as having powers able to effect well-being, or conversely, danger. [4]  Birds and feathers specifically were often found on the top of crowns and (as pictured) palaces and royal buildings, as well as in the symbolic movements of ritual dances.
    Also central to the design of most palaces are  rooms and areas dedicated to honoring the ancestors.  Blier reports that the Bamileke (Cameroon) designate the central most room to housing honored skulls, as well as a fire that is meant to be kept constantly burning. 
     Another prevalent palace architectural practice is that of incorporating honor for the old kings, as well as expectations for the new.  In this way each new kingship builds onto the last, inheriting the advantages and successes of the kings now past onto ancestor-hood.  One common practice is building new doors or wings for each new reign. [4]