Outstanding Old Large Tuareg Hand of Fatima – KHOMISSAR – Niger

1970′. Shell on leather. Cm. 9,1 width x cm. 9,6 high (3.58″ x 3.77″). Gr. 73,8 (2.60 oz). Signed on the back.

The Khomissar, in the form of a stylized hand, is believed to ward off the evil eye and, being made of shells, doubles as a fertility symbol.

The Tuareg people inhabit a large area, covering almost all the middle and western Sahara and the north-central Sahel. They are probably descended from the ancient Libyan people of the kingdom of the Garamantes, described by Herodotus. Tuareg are mostly nomads. For over two millennia, the Tuareg operated the trans-Saharan caravan trade connecting the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara via five desert trade routes to the northern coast of Africa (Mediterranean).

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