Nsibidi

Nsibidi// ^ⓘ (also known as Nsibiri, Nchibiddi or Nchibiddy) is a system of symbols or proto-writing developed by the Ejagham in the southeastern part of Nigeria and South Western part of Cameroon. They are classified as pictograms, though there have been suggestions that some are logograms or syllabograms.

The symbol system was first encountered by Europeans like Charles Partridge, a British Assistant District Colonial officer and anthropologist who discovered the Ikom Monoliths (also known as the Bakor or Akwanshi Monoliths) in 1903 on the banks of the Aweyong River. Description of the Circles of Upright Sculptured Stones on the Left Bank of the Aweyong River in the Ikom region of southeast Nigeria, dated to roughly the 5th Century. He specifically mentioned the occurrence of these stones in such places as Etiningnta (Itinta), Agba, Iseni (Abinti nsene) and Anop (Alok). He also indicated that he saw some in Okuni, near Ikom while a cluster of stones were also found in the village of Abuntak Isam in the Ekajuk village group of Ogoja district. Partridge who also first drew attention to the relationship between the cicatrices on these stones and the tattoo marks he noticed among the indigenes, especially women of the area. A further work by P. A. Talbot, In the Shadow of The Bush (1912) took time to document the elaborate veneration of stones as objects of ritual and worship by Ejagham people. He also underscored the organic relationship between the tattoos found on the bodies of Ejagham people and the designs on some of these stones, going further to explain for the first time that these tattoos and designs were indeed, a form of indigenous writing called Nsibidi.

In 1926, in another book, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, vol II that he specifically and graphically documented the existence of the monoliths:

The finest stone circle seen by me is in the country of the Nuamm at Nyerekpong, a few miles north of Atamm... It is about twenty-five yards in diameter, but only eight monoliths, composed of a shelly limestone, are now left, one of which has fallen... The Nuamm stated that they only knew them under the name Etal, “The Stones”... They assured me that there are finer circles at Alokk, a few miles to the east in which the stones are bigger as well as better carved. Another ring but of much smaller and uncut stones is to be found at Ogomogom...

Talbot went further to document the existence of monoliths in other parts of Ejagham territory including Mandak in Ekajuk, Etinta, Ndurakpe and Olulumo as well as Mfum and Agbokim in present day Ikom and Etung local government Areas respectively.

Nsibidi is used on wall designs, calabashes, metals (such as bronze), leaves, swords, and tattoos. It is primarily used by the Mgbe leopard society or Ekpe leopard society (also known as Ngbe or Egbo), a secret society that is found across old Cross River region among the Ekoi, Igbo, Efik, Bahumono, and other nearby peoples.

Before the colonial era of Nigerian history, Nsibidi was divided into a sacred version and a public, more decorative version which could be used by women. Nsibidi was and is still a means of transmitting Mgbe/Ekpe symbolism. Nsibidi was transported to Cuba and Haiti via the Atlantic slave trade, where it developed into the anaforuana and veve symbols.