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Hamsa

(Hand of Miriam)

Yad

A stylized handprint with an eye at the center, generally associated with warding off evil.

Notes

The “hamsa” is typical in Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean communities.

Video

The origins and meaning of Hamsa.

Translations

  • Hebrewחמסה
  • GermanHamsa
  • RussianХамса
  • FrenchHamsa
  • DutchChamsa
  • ItalianHamsa
  • CzechChamsa
  • HungarianHamsa
  • SpanishJamsa
  • GreekΧάμσα
  • PolishChamsa
  • Arabicالخمسة
  • Yiddishכאַמסאַ
  • LadinoHamsa

Bibliography

Bahrouzi Nitza, editor. The Hand of Fortune: Khamsas from the Gross Family Collection and the Eretz Israel Museum Collection. Tel Aviv: Eretz Israel Museum, 2002.

Gonen, Rivka. “The Open Hand: On the North African ‘Hamsa’ and its Sources”. Israel Museum Journal XII, 1994, pp. 47–56.

Holthuis, Gabriele, ed. Living Khamsa: Die Hand zum Glück – The Hand of Fortune, Schwäbisch Gmünd: Museum und Galerie im Prediger, 2004.

Sabar, Shalom. “From Sacred Symbol to Key Ring: The Hamsa in Jewish and Israeli Societies.Jews at Home: The Domestication of Identity, edited by Simon J. Bronner, vol. 2, Liverpool: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization and Liverpool University Pres, 2010, pp. 140-162.

Shamir, Shirat-Miriam and Ido Noy, editors. Khamsa Khamsa Khamsa: The Evolution of a Motif in Contemporary Israeli Art, Jerusalem: L.A. Mayer Museum of Islamic Art, 2018.

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