A Hamar man sits on his stool while waiting for a bull jump to begin in South Omo, Ethiopia, in October, 2006.
A Hamar man sits on his stool while waiting for a bull jump to begin in South Omo, Ethiopia, in October, 2006. 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.
Size: 3680px × 5521px
Location: Turmi, South Omo, Ethiopia, East Africa
Photo credit: © Anders Ryman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: adornmet, adult, africa, african, africans, age, beadwork, bull, coming, costum, costume, cycle, de, dress, earrings, ethiopia, ethnic, full, hamar, hamer, headband, indigenous, initiaton, jump, length, life, male, man, manhood, marriage, matrimony, necklace, omo, outdoors, passage, people, person, portrait, pre-marriage, rings, rite, ritual, sitting, south, stool, traditional, tribespeople, vertical, waiting, young
