Scientific testing confirms that part of a west African palace complex was built using human blood. And it has to do… with voodoo.

The structure is in the city of Abomey in the former French colony of Benin which is today a major exporter of cotton, peanuts, and palm oil. But between the 1600s and the early 1900s, the territory was part of the Kingdom of Dahomey where 12 kings of the same dynasty ruled as absolute monarchs.

The ninth of those kings was Ghezo who ruled from 1818 to 1858, earning a reputation as a fierce fighter who ended the oppression of his people who were paying heavy tribute to a neighbouring kingdom.

It’s said the alley leading to King Ghezo’s hut was lined with the bones of defeated enemies, and his throne rested on the skulls of four vanquished opponents.

In the royal compound were two memorial structures honouring the legacy of King Ghezo’s father, who reigned before him. The side-by-side sacred huts had both political and religious meaning, steeped in voodoo culture.

As part of that, each ruler was considered a god-king combining temporal and spiritual power. And — in voodoo theology — death was only a change of state and not a final disappearance.

But the faith taught it was essential to have a clear barrier between the human world and the spot where the king’s body and spirit were placed.

So, the walls of sacred memorial huts were made supernatural by prayers, earth from a sacred place, water........

© Sarnia Observer