Ibeji and the Care of Twins

The Metropolitan Museum of Art describes Yoruba twins as extraordinary beings under the protection of Sango, the thunder deity. Its account connects the honor given to twins with their capacity to bring their families prosperity or misfortune.

When a twin dies, an ere ibeji figure can provide a focus for continued care and remembrance. The museum describes mothers washing, dressing, decorating, and feeding these figures as part of that care. The sculpture represents a relationship with a departed person rather than simply an image of an anonymous deity.

The Met records object 1979.527.22 as the work of a Yoruba artist in Nigeria, dated to the nineteenth or twentieth century. Its materials include wood, beads, camwood powder, and pigment. This dated object provides a concrete point of reference for learning about the practice.

This account summarizes the museum’s interpretation. It does not establish a single origin story or describe every Yoruba community’s practice.

Yoruba twins are named by order of birth: the first-born is Taiwo, 'the one who tasted the world', and the second Kehinde, 'the one who came after'. Kehinde is traditionally regarded as the elder, having sent Taiwo ahead to see whether the world was fit to enter. Twins are honoured with songs and praise names, and in some communities mothers of twins danced in the market with them, receiving gifts.

The Yoruba region has one of the highest rates of twin births recorded anywhere in the world, and the town of Igbo-Ora in Oyo State calls itself the twin capital of the world. That demographic fact helps explain why twins, living and dead, have such a strong place in Yoruba religion and art.