Hamar man sitting on his stool in South Omo, Ethiopia

A Hamar man sits on his stool while waiting for a bull jump to begin in South Omo, Ethiopia. The bull jump is ritual at which a young man runs across the backs of a number of bullocks in order to become eligible for marriage. The man is a maz, somebody who has performed the bull jump but has yet to marry, and he is recognized as such by the strip of bark around his head. The 40,000-strong, cattle-herding Hamar are among the largest of the 20 or so ethnic groups which inhabit the culturally diverse Omo region in south-west Ethiopia.

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Filename: 5406.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2006 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 3680x5521 / 14.3MB; Adornmet Africa African ethnicity Beadwork Bull Jump Coming of Age Earrings Ethiopia Full Length Hamar Hamer Headband Life Cycle Ritual Male Initiaton Manhood Marriage Matrimony Necklace Outdoors Portrait Pre-Marriage Ritual Rings Rite de Passage Rite of Passage Sitting South Omo Stool Traditional and Ethnic Costume Traditional and Ethnic Dress Tribespeople Vertical Waiting Young Adult Young Man indigenous people one person
Contained in galleries: Hamar bulljumping, Ethiopia

A Hamar man sits on his stool while waiting for a bull jump to begin in South Omo, Ethiopia. The bull jump is ritual at which a young man runs across the backs of a number of bullocks in order to become eligible for marriage. The man is a maz, somebody who has performed the bull jump but has yet to marry, and he is recognized as such by the strip of bark around his head. The 40,000-strong, cattle-herding Hamar are among the largest of the 20 or so ethnic groups which inhabit the culturally diverse Omo region in south-west Ethiopia.