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Jewish Amulets · c. 600 BCE – today

Judeo-Moroccan hamsas & amulets

Meaning

Moroccan Jewish amulets include silver hamsas, fish (a sign of fertility and protection from the evil eye, since fish live unseen under water), Hebrew-inscribed plaques and enamelled pendants, often combining the hand and fish.

Intent

They were worn by women and children and hung in homes against the evil eye and for fertility and luck, and given at births and weddings.

Significance

Moroccan Jews were among the finest silversmiths of the Maghreb, and their work is shared with Muslim tradition: the same hand serves both communities. It is now a treasured part of Moroccan Jewish heritage in Israel and France.

History

Most surviving pieces date from the 19th and early 20th centuries, before the mass emigration of Moroccan Jews in the 1950s–60s.

Making yours
Silver with champlevé enamel or engraving, 3–8 cm, with Hebrew letters.
Jewish Amulets: the tradition

Jewish amulets go back to the silver scrolls of Ketef Hinnom (c. 600 BCE), inscribed with the Priestly Blessing. The Talmud discusses 'proven' amulets (kame'a mumheh) and permits them on the Sabbath. Medieval Kabbalah developed a rich practical magic of divine names, angel names and letter permutations, recorded in books like Sefer Raziel. Amulets for mothers and newborns, against the demoness Lilith, were universal from Morocco to Iran to Eastern Europe. Italian, Persian, Yemeni, Kurdish and Moroccan Jewish silversmiths each developed distinctive styles, many now in the Israel Museum and Jewish museums worldwide.

See all 8, save the ones that feel rightAsk about having one made
An East African King Receives Three Emissaries, from a Khamsa of Amir Khusrau DihlaviAn East African King Receives Three Emissaries, from a Khamsa of Amir Khusrau DihlaviIndia, Sultanate period · c. 1450Amulet from MoroccoAmulet from MoroccoMoroccoAmulet from MoroccoAmulet from MoroccoMoroccoamulettgömmaamulettgömmaMoroccoAmulet from MoroccoAmulet from MoroccoMoroccoHjab amulet from MoroccoHjab amulet from MoroccoMoroccoHjab amulet from MoroccoHjab amulet from MoroccoMoroccoMoroccoMoroccoMorocco

More from Jewish Amulets: Silver kame’ot & Shaddai plaques · Childbirth & protective papers · Other & unsorted Jewish Amulets
Every type in the gallery

Anything in the gallery can be made: any piece, any tradition, in its own material or yours, by hand from the documented original. Numbered. Price on commission, quoted before anything is made. I reply within one business day.