Kingship.


In the province of Lagos, which forms part of Southern Nigeria, the Ijebu
tribe of the Yoruba race is divided into two branches, which are known
respectively as the Ijebu Ode and the Ijebu Remon. The Ode branch of the
tribe is ruled by a chief who bears the title of Awujale and is surrounded
by a great deal of mystery. Down to recent times his face might not be
seen even by his own subjects, and if circumstances obliged him to
communicate with them he did so through a screen which hid him from view.
The other or Remon branch of the Ijebu tribe is governed by a chief, who
ranks below the Awujale. Mr. John Parkinson was informed that in former
times this subordinate chief used to be killed with ceremony after a rule
of three years. As the country is now under British protection the custom
of putting the chief to death at the end of a three years' reign has long
been abolished, and Mr. Parkinson was unable to ascertain any particulars
on the subject.(347)




§ 8. Annual Tenure of the Kingship.


(M88) At Babylon, within historical times, the tenure of the kingly office
was in practice lifelong, yet in theory it would seem to have been merely
annual. For every year at the festival of Zagmuk the king had to renew his
power by seizing the hands of the image of Marduk in his great temple of
Esagil at Babylon. Even when Babylon passed under the power of Assyria,
the monarchs of that country were expected to legalise their claim to the
throne every year by coming to Babylon and performing the ancient ceremony
at the New-year festival, and some of them found the obligation so
burdensome that rather than discharge it they renounced the title of king
altogether and contented themselves with the humbler one of Governor.(348)
Further, it would appear that in remote times, though not within the
historical period, the kings of Babylon or their barbarous predecessors
forfeited not merely their crown but their life at the end of a year's
tenure of office. At least this is the conclusion to which the following
evidenc