Courtship dance after bull jump ritual in South Omo, Ethiopia

Young Hamar men and women take part in a courtship dance after a bull jumping ritual, in South Omo, Ethiopia. The bull jump is a ritual at which a man runs over a row of bullocks in order to become eligible for marriage, and the erotic dances that follow continue all night and into the following morning. The 40,000-strong, cattle-herding Hamar are among the largest of the 20 or so ethnic groups which inhabit the culturally diverse South Omo region in south-west Ethiopia.

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Copyright: Copyright © 2006 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5593x3696 / 10.5MB; Adornmet Adults Africa African ethnicity Beadwork Bull Jump Coming of Age Courtship Dancing Erotic Ethiopia Hamar Hamer Headband Horizontal Large Group of People Life Cycle Ritual Male Initiaton Marriage Matrimony Necklace Pre-Marriage Ritual Rite de Passage Rite of Passage Smiling South Omo Traditional and Ethnic Costume Traditional and Ethnic Dress Tribespeople Two People with Others Young Adults indigenous people
Contained in galleries: Hamar bulljumping, Ethiopia

Young Hamar men and women take part in a courtship dance after a bull jumping ritual, in South Omo, Ethiopia. The bull jump is a ritual at which a man runs over a row of bullocks in order to become eligible for marriage, and the erotic dances that follow continue all night and into the following morning. The 40,000-strong, cattle-herding Hamar are among the largest of the 20 or so ethnic groups which inhabit the culturally diverse South Omo region in south-west Ethiopia.