The Humr (also known as Humur, ar, همور, Hūmūr, lit=red) are one of two branches of the
Messiria
The Messiria (), known also under the name of Misseriya Arabs, are a branch of the Baggara ethnic grouping of Arab tribes.Adam, Biraima M. 2012. Baggara of Sudan: Culture and Environment, Amazon online Books''Baggara of Sudan: Culture and Enviro ...
, a subgroup of the
Baggara
The Baggāra ( ar, :wikt:بقار#Etymology 2, البَقَّارَة "heifer herder") or Chadian Arabs are a Nomad, nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arabs, Arab and Arabization, Arabized Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous African a ...
ethnic group, native to the south-west of province
Kordofan
Kordofan ( ar, كردفان ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory di ...
,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. Speakers of
Chadian Arabic
Chadian Arabic ( ar, لهجة تشادية), also known as Shuwa Arabic, Baggara Arabic, Western Sudanic Arabic, or West Sudanic Arabic (WSA), is a variety of Arabic and the first language of 1.6 million people, both town dwellers and nomadic c ...
, the Humr live in the area surrounding the towns of
Babanusa
Babanusa is a town in western Sudan.
History
In 1965, 72 Dinka civilians were massacred in the town by an Arab mob during the First Sudanese Civil War.
Climate
Transport
It is a railway junction on the national railway network where the ...
,
Muglad
Mujlad is a city in West Kurdufan State in the west of Sudan. It is the center town of the Misseriya tribe, sometimes also transliterated as "Messeria" tribe.
In the late seventies, early eighties, Muglad was used as a staging area for oilfield ...
and Al Fula ( ar, الفولة).
The Humr are divided into two groups - the ''Ajaira'', who live in the area from Muglad to
Abyei
The Abyei Area ( ar, منطقة أبيي) is an area of on the border between South Sudan and the Sudan that has been accorded "special administrative status" by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict (Abyei Protocol) in ...
and the ''Felaita'', who live in the vicinity of Babanusa, Alfoula and
Kajira
Gor () is the fictional setting for a series of sword and planet novels written by philosophy professor John Lange, writing as John Norman. The setting was first described in the 1966 novel ''Tarnsman of Gor''. The series is inspired by science f ...
. There are six clans in the Ajaira and five in the Falita, and thus twelve Humrawi clans in all.
Anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
Ian Cunnison lists the clans of the two divisions of the Humr as the Ajaira consisting of the Fayyarin, Awlád Kamil, Mezaghna, Fadliya, Menama and Addal clans, and the Felaita consisting of the Metanin, Ziyud, Awlád Serur, Jubarat and Salamat clans.
The people who govern each tribe are known as the "
Nazir" ( ar, ناظر, lit=leader).
Hunting
The Humur are intrepid
hunters
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...
of
elephants
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...
and the
giraffe
The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...
. Humrawi hunters' main reason for hunting the giraffe is the preparation of the drink ''umm nyolokh''.
''umm nyolokh''
The Humur are most commonly known outside the Sudan as the preparers of a drink made from the
liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
and
bone marrow
Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...
of a giraffe, which they call ''umm nyolokh'', and which they claim is intoxicating, causing
dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
s and
hallucination
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...
s. If substantiated by a chemical analysis, this claim would make the giraffe the first mammal to be discovered to contain a hallucinogen in its bodily tissues, and the Humrawi the first people to have discovered the existence of such a mammal.
Ian Cunnison, who accompanied the Humr on some of their giraffe-hunting expeditions in the late 1950s, noted that:
It is said that a person, once he has drunk umm nyolokh, will return to giraffe again and again. Humr, being Mahdists, are strict abstainers rom alcohol
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
and a Humrawi is never drunk (sakran) on liquor
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...
or beer. But he uses this word to describe the effects which umm nyolokh has upon him.
Cunnison's account of a psychoactive mammal found its way into a mainstream literature through a conversation between
Dr. Wendy James of the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
and specialist on the use of hallucinogens and intoxicants in society
Richard Rudgley
Richard Rudgley (born 1961) is a British author and television presenter. He specialises on the topics of the usage of hallucinogens and intoxicants in society. He has also written about the Stone Age and about Paganism.
Rudgley completed a BA in ...
, who considered its implications in his popular work ''The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances''. Rudgley hypothesises that the presence of the hallucinogenic compound
DMT might account for the putative intoxicating properties of umm nyolokh.
References
{{authority control
Ethnic groups in Sudan