A view of the city This image of Benin City is by a European
artist. It gives us an idea of how the city might have looked
over 300 years ago. You can see the palace in the background –
each turret has a bird statue on top. At the front of the
picture, there is a royal parade with music and dancing. It's
behind you! This photograph was taken at the palace, during the
expedition made by the British in 1897. In the background you
can see the palace roof with a snake made of brass slithering
down it. Photos like this one are the best guide we have to
knowing what Benin looked like. This head was part of a brass
snake on the palace roof – it was fixed to the roof with its
body zigzagging down and its head at the bottom. Fifteen of
these snake heads survive. We are not sure if the snakes were
meant to be protective pythons or threatening puff adders. We
can tell that this plaque shows the palace of Benin from the
snake slithering down the roof, just like the one in the
expedition photo. We’re not sure if the stair