Oduduwa

Odùduwà (listen^ⓘ, also pronounced Ooduwa, Odudua or Oòdua) was a Yoruba divine king, an Oriṣa in the Yoruba religion, and the progenitor who ushered in the classical period that later led to the foundation of the Ife Empire. His earthly origins are from the village of Oke Ora. According to tradition, he was the holder of the title of the Olofin of Ile-Ife, the Yoruba holy city. He ruled there briefly and also served as the progenitor of a number of independent royal dynasties in Yorubaland, with the praise names Olofin Adimula and Olofin Ayé.

Archaeologists and historians estimate Oduduwa's kingly existence to the Late Formative Period of Ife (800-1000CE), which aligns with indigenous Yoruba oral chronology. However, Yoruba religious adherents take it one step further - explaining that spiritually Oduduwa, together with Ọbatala, are aligned with creator divinities that, being cloaked in human-form and as old as the Earth itself, took part in the creation of all that is. This spiritual figure, referred to as 'Oduduwa', is often thought to be distinct from the figure who later reigned as Olofin.