What the hamsa means
The hamsa — Arabic khamsa, simply "five" — is the open right hand of the Middle East and North Africa: palm out, fingers spread or stylised into symmetry, very often with an eye set in the centre. It is one of the oldest continuously worn amulets on earth, older than the religions that now share it, and its work has never changed: the raised hand stops harm, the open palm pours blessing, and the eye in the middle stares back at envy on your behalf.
Judaism names it the Hand of Miriam, for the prophetess who watched over Moses; Islam calls it the Hand of Fatima, for the Prophet's daughter. The five fingers gather five-fold meanings in each tradition — five books of Torah, five pillars of Islam — and the shared number gave the charm a rare property: it belongs to everyone along the southern Mediterranean, and no one exclusively. That is why it hangs equally in Tel Aviv, Tunis and Istanbul.
Everything practical about wearing it comes down to three choices: which way it faces (up guards, down blesses), what sits in the palm (an eye adds interception — the combined form we compare inhamsa vs evil eye), and the register you buy it in (silver for tradition, gold for gift-weight). The guides below take each question in turn.