Home›Open Questions›Where does the five-fingered khamsa form come from, and is there any evidential chain to a pre-Islamic Punic hand?Open QuestionsWhere does the five-fingered khamsa form come from, and is there any evidential chain to a pre-Islamic Punic hand?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Where does the five-fingered khamsa form come from, and is there any evidential chain to a pre-Islamic Punic hand?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/where-does-the-five-fingered-khamsa-form-come-from-and-is-there-any-evidential-chain-to-a-pre-islamic-punic-hand.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Where does the five-fingered khamsa form come from, and is there any evidential chain to a pre-Islamic Punic hand?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/where-does-the-five-fingered-khamsa-form-come-from-and-is-there-any-evidential-chain-to-a-pre-islamic-punic-handCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-where-does-the-five-fingered-khamsa-form, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Where does the five-fingered khamsa form come from, and is there any evidential chain to a pre-Islamic Punic hand?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/where-does-the-five-fingered-khamsa-form-come-from-and-is-there-any-evidential-chain-to-a-pre-islamic-punic-hand}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionA derivation from a Punic hand of the goddess Tanit is repeated widely in popular and semi-scholarly writing about North African amulets, and no chain of evidence is offered for it. No competing positive account of the origin has been established either, so this is a gap rather than a disagreement between camps.What would resolve this A published series of hand-shaped protective objects with secure archaeological contexts spanning the Punic period, late antiquity and the medieval Maghreb, or a study demonstrating that no such series exists and that the form arises later and independently.OpenPunic and Roman North African archaeology, together with the material culture history of the medieval MaghrebP. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs (eds.), The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd editionCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnKhamsa, Sacred Objects & Ritual Items Well-attested Source The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd editionP. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs (eds.)tier 1SourcesThe Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd editiontier 1P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs (eds.), Brill, 2005View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year