Slavery in the Ancient World

The Dahomey Kingdom of west Africa ruled during the days when African’s were being sold to the British, who in turn sold these men and women into slavery on the coasts of the United States. It was a sad situation, one African tribe would war against another African tribe, take captives, cage them, then sell them. We often imagine the “slavers” just taking these men and women, but that would require battle. Instead, the slavers relied on Africans to do the fighting, to take these captives alive, then sell them for profit. The Dahomey King was rich as a result. This was illustrated in the recent movie The Woman King, starring Viola Davis. Her character is fictional, but the Agojie women warriors she led, are not. In the early to mid-1800’s this female army was so fierce that their enemies spoke of the Agojie’s “prodigious bravery.” Their chief enemy was Oyo. If you look on a modern map, you’ll find the small country of Togo off the Gulf of Guinea. As you may know, we support Master Provisions, and they do work in Togo, where we sent many refurbished sewing machines to set up the Bill Adams Sewing Center. We’ve had Daniel, a Togo man who is the key contact for Master Provisions, talk to us at SHCC in the past. The Dahomey Kingdom was just to the east of Togo, in modern Benin. Oyo just east of that. Eventually the primary slavers, the British, outlawed this practice. The Dahomey Kingdom tried to produce Palm Oil but it struggled to make equal profits of the slave trade. Eventually the French came in and took over in this area. I remember Daniel’s wife, when they were here, did not speak much English, but she knew French. The Dahomey Kingdom faded. When we think of “slavery” we tend to picture what happened in the United States. This is to be expected, it’s our countries experience. It eventually led to Civil War to free the slaves in this country. A close look will show you that there were many good slave owners, but still it was forced slavery. Slavery that resulted from taking people from their native country and moving them against their will on slave ships to this country, to then be sold and often treated like animals. This creates an almost completely negative picture of the practice of slavery. In an article within Missouri Life magazine, author Porsche Moran talks of spending a night in a slave cabin, and she writes, “Modest, I was surprised to find the accommodations far better than I had expected. The quality of life presented to slaves was a direct reflection of the masters.” Slave practices in ancient times varied a lot. Slavery was very common in the world of Jesus’ day. Some resulted from debt, called peonage, and lasted until the debt was satisfied. It could be abused, but on the surface was simply a way to make things right. In the ancient world this form of slavery was found everywhere. Others were born into slavery, and without education and opportunity, had no other option available, unless their master would set them on a path to freedom. It would often take many years to gain such freedom. Next week we will talk more about modern forms of slavery, still common in the world. In reality, the experience of a slave depended entirely on the master, a key point to remember.
 
Cross Point: “During that long period…the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God” (Exodus 2:23).