What is "hamsa"

n. the Hand of Fatima

Hamsa (חמסה) was an Israeli musical quintet, perhaps best described as an Israeli Spice Girls. The group was formed in 2001 by music producers Eyal Buchbut and Dror Margalit. The group got a breakthrough in the spring of 2003 with the single Chayav lamoot alai, followed by their debut album Hamsa, and shortly after disbanded, during 2004.

The hamsa ( Sanskrit: हंस, or hansa) is an aquatic bird of passage, such as a goose or a swan. Its icon is used in Indian and Southeast Asian culture as a spiritual symbol and a decorative element.

Hamsa or Khamsa can refer to:

• Arabic " five, quintet"
  • Ḫamsa, a Near Eastern symbol often used as a protective amulet
  • a commonly used alternative name for the Panj Ganj or Quinary, i.e. quintet of Nizami's first five great epics
• Sanskrit
  • the Sanskrit for "swan" or "goose", see Hamsa (bird)
  • a mystical name of the letter h in Sanskrit, see Shiksha
  • A subsidiary Purana in Hinduism
  • a mantra, see Soham (Sanskrit)
• Hamsa (musical group) (חמסה), an Israeli musical quintet.

The Hamsa ( Khamsah, , also romanized khamsa), is a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and commonly used in jewelry and wall hangings. Depicting the open right hand, an image recognized and used as a sign of protection in many times throughout history, the hamsa is believed to provide defense against the evil eye. It has been theorized that its origins lie in Carthage (modern-day Tunisia) and may have been associated with the goddess Tanit.

Khamsah is an Arabic word that means "five", but also "the five fingers of the hand". It may also be taken as a reference to the primary number itself.

Hamsa (also Khamsah, Khamsa, Khamseh, Hamsah) in Persian and Turkish literature, is a set of five long epic poems composed in rhyming couplet, or masnavi, form.

Khamseh takes its name from the five great epic poems written by Nezami (q.v.; d. 1209) and entitled Khamseh ("The Quintuplet"). The first of these five poems, all of which were composed in the masnavi form, is the didactic work Makhzan ol-asrar (The Treasury of Mysteries); the next three are traditional love stories; and the fifth, the Eskandar-nameh, records the adventures of Alexander the Great. Inspired by Nezami's influential model, several other notable poets, including Amir Khosrow of Delhi (1253–1325) and 'Ali Shir Nava'i (1441–1501), wrote khamsehs in Persian and in Turkish.