Another type of pendants
Finally, there is a fifth type of pendants. However, they are of later origin. In turn, they are divided into two subtypes:
1. Primitive metal claw-shaped pendants, originating from individual monuments in northeastern Kazakhstan, the Khakass-Minusinsk basin, Mingechaur, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, and several monuments of Ancient Iran. The Minusinsk claw-shaped pendants, named Karasuk ones, were made by stamping or cut from sheet iron or silver. Their sizes range from 6 to 2.5 cm. These finds, however, are characteristic only of monuments from the 2nd to 1st millennium BC and testify to a very ancient tradition associated with the cult of the hand.
2. Similar in shape to the previous ones, but rather late in origin, these pendants began to spread with the introduction of Islam in Central Asia and Iran, as well as under the influence of Shiism. This image of the hand is commonly found on monuments of material culture in Iran, Khorasan, Pamir, in short, everywhere where Shiite propaganda had significant success. In monuments of this time, there are imprints of the hand that connect the palm of the hand of the fourth and last righteous Arab caliph (656-661) and the first Imam of the Shiites, Ali. The very fact of choosing the "panja" as a symbol of the Shiite sect also provokes deep reflection, although the ideologists of Shiism explain this phenomenon very primitively. In the Middle Ages and modern times, the image of a handprint on raw clay on unburnt and burnt bricks was observed in the ancient settlements of Khurmuzfar in the Merv region on several monuments of applied art from the 9th to 13th centuries, and even on objects of Nestorian cult. During this era, clay seals with the image of the hand were also carved. Massive hands cast from iron adorned the "Tug" above the gates of the 15th-century mausoleum in the suburbs of Karshi, where the remains of the well-known physician, apparently a Shiite, Khoja Ubaidi Jarroh, rest, as well as on the tombstone of one of the mausoleums in the village of Karatag near Dushanbe. Handprints left on the white plaster of walls, carved from wood, etc., are still found in many cemeteries of mountain villages in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, where in the past, unlike in cities, Ismaili propaganda found a favorable environment. This movement was particularly vividly expressed in the work of the 11th-century poet Nasiri Khisrav. In addition, handprints were also widely spread among Muslims in mountainous Abkhazia! There were also instances where each finger of the hand was accompanied by the image of long curved and pointed nails. Such pendants or their imprints were called "jinn's paw".
Finally, we will point out another manifestation of this cult, which is also noted in monuments of Muslim architecture. On the walls of several mosques, mausoleums, and tombs in Khojent, Uratyub, particularly on the eastern wall of the central room of the Kokgumbaz mosque-madrasa from the 16th century, the Madrasa of Abdullah Khan from the 16th century in the village of Navgilem in the Isfara district, and in some cities of Central Asia, there is a schematic depiction of a deceased person lying in a grave pit. The deceased usually has their right hand extended beyond the grave pit, with a handful of earth or ashes indicated in the palm. Unfortunately, this motif has not yet attracted the attention of researchers. However, it has long found explanation in Tajik-Persian literature of the 10th-12th centuries. This motif had ethical and moral significance, aimed primarily against bourgeois psychology, accumulation, and stinginess. Let us refer to a poetic example: Nizami Ganjavi in the poem "Iskandarnama" describes the death of Alexander the Great:
The king commanded, already sensing the parting with the world,
To raise his right hand from the grave,
And, placing a handful of ashes in the powerless fist,
To proclaim, lamenting, this sorrowful sign:
"King of seven regions! King of the earthly space!
All riches were amassed by this renowned king,
But in his fist now lies only ashes."
The depth of this tradition is evidenced, in particular, by the absurdity of the sculptural depiction of a hand on a fragment of a statuary sarcophagus from the Aybuiyr settlement in Southern Kazakhstan.
Typology of pendants