Medieval-style fortifications are back in the Sahel

Double berm or raised fortification, Kauwa, NigeriaPhotograph: Google Earth/Google Maps/Courtesy Olivier Walther and Steven M Radil Jun 25th 2026|2 min readNot much remains today of the walls, ramparts and moats that once surrounded Benin City in southern Nigeria. Yet for centuries these giant earthworks—second in length only to China’s Great Wall among man-made structures—bespoke a mighty civilisation whose authority extended across much of west Africa. By the standards of pre-colonial Africa, the Benin state was exceptionally strong: erecting the wall in a single dry season might have required mobilising as many as 5,000 men, each working ten hours a day. But as the empire withered and eventually succumbed to British invaders in the late 19th century, most of the earthworks vanished. So did those of many other fortified towns across west Africa.This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The return of the rampart”From the June 27th 2026 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contents⇒Explore the edition