Altar Ring (Aseberhia)

"The brass altar rings of Benin, adorned with figures and birds, were not mere decorations but cosmological maps. The seven human figures likely represented the Uzama (kingmakers), while the four birds symbolized divine messengers between the earthly and spiritual realms—a fusion of political hierarchy and sacred geometry in cast metal."

— Kathryn Wysocki Gunsch, The Benin Plaques: A 16th Century Imperial Monument (2018), p. 113.