“And it is in your name we pray, Amen.”
Sounds familiar, right? That is the common ending of a prayer in many religious traditions. Many people even use the word “amen” to agree with the preacher, or even in a casual conversation: “Can I get an ‘Amen?’” a preacher might say, or some girlfriends may use it in a sacrilegious, gossip-filled conversation and say, “Girl, I know that’s right. Amen to that.”
It has been understood the word has Hebrew origins, meaning, “so be it.”
However, according to the research conducted by Jahi Issa, Ph.D. and California State University Dominguez Hills Africana Studies professor Salim Faraji, Ph.D., contributors to O. Kwame Osei’s “The Origin of the Word Amen: Ancient Knowledge the Bible has Never Told,” the word “amen” has ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) roots.
Issa and Faraji write that amen was an entity, one of the four qualities of Nun, primordial matter or often referred to as the watery chaos in which creation formed. Amen and the feminine half Amenet were considered a pair of gods, who stood independently from Nun. Amen was highly regarded among royalty, and the crowns of kings were adorned with his symbol–a ram. Other names in which he is commonly known by include Amen-Ra and Amon. He is also part of the divine triad: Amen, Mut, and Khonsu, the Father-Mother-Child trinity.
Amen means that which is hidden or cannot be seen.
Several kings and queens of ancient Kemet were named in the divinity’s honor, attaching Amen to their own names. For example, Amenhotep, Amenemhet, Taneyidamani, Tuntunkamen, Amanitore, Amanishekhto, and several more include Amen in their names. Even in current traditions, Amen or some form of his name is used in names across the African Diaspora.
So how did Amen end up in other religious traditions?
Let us take a look at the Greek invasion of Egypt. In Origin of the Word Amen, the authors noted that with Alexander “the Great’s” take over of Egypt, he established the city of Alexandria, where he took over the papyrus scrolls that held the information and history of civilization, including Kemetic history, medicine, geometry, mathematics, music, philosophy, and cosmology.
That may explain why the shared Jewish and Christian stories of the Bible are nearly identical to the ancient scrolls of Kemetic theological philosophies and traditions. Issa and Faraji also point out the incontrovertible Egyptian creation story is told in Genesis.
Throughout the Old Testament scriptures, the presence of Amen is compelling.
“(Kushite king) Piankhi’s two sons and successors Shabataka and Taharqa, both of which are mentioned in the Old Testament books of II Chronicles (12:2-9) and II Kings (19:9) as rulers and defenders of the southern kingdom of Judah against Assyrian aggression, were fervent devotees and warriors of the Amen like their father before them. These two kings and priest-generals … made a lasting and favorable impression on the kingdom of Judah through their adoration and service to the Amen,” Issa and Faraji write.
According to Biblical Old Testament writings, the Hebrews were heavily influenced by ancient Kemetic religious traditions. Even in the Greek New Testament writings, the influence of Amen is also prevalent.
Issa and Faraji emphasize that Amen was regarded as a universal God in which anyone could find respect and relevance.
Revelation 3:14 reads, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.”
“Elsewhere in the New Testament the Amen is appealed to as a name by which an oath is confirmed or a truth is declared,” the scholars write. “… Jesus prefaces his words with the phrase rendered in Greek ‘Amen, Amen.’ The English translation of this phrase varies, depending upon the version of the Bible.
The New King James Version translates the phrase ‘verily, verily,’ … What is clear from the manner in which Amen is utilized in these passages is that the name itself represents a divine sanction of any thought, words, and actions declared by the truth of Amen. In other words, Jesus is saying ‘By the name of Amen’ I say these things, or ‘I swear according to the name of Amen’ that these things are true.”
So the next time you say “Amen,” know you are recognizing the truth in the universal, Kemetic God Amen.
