To say, "Amen."

To say, “Amen”

By Bill Schaeffer

2003

I was reading a book on “Understanding Hieroglyphs - a complete introductory guide” by Hilary Wilson and  during a moment of reflection came across this curious observation.

Apparently, one’s name was very important to the ancient Egyptians.  People often had several names and god’s also had multiple names.  To know another’s “secret name” was to have special power and influence over that person. 

To have one’s name survive and be remembered, after death, was also very important.  This is how one prospered in the afterlife.  People would go to great lengths to insure that their name was remembered.  It was considered an important family obligation to recite the names of your ancestors at special rites.  Occasionally priests were hired to perform these functions for large or influential families.  Inscriptions and statues also helped the name of the deceased to survive.   

Names were also important to the gods.  The more powerful the god, the more names and titles he carried.  Reciting the name of the god gave him power and gave you favor. 
It was always essential to recite the names of the gods correctly.  An error would nullify the action or worse bring bad luck.  Another method honoring the gods was to inscribe their names on walls and monuments.  This is why there are so many names to be found among the hieroglyphic inscriptions.

The chief god of all the Egyptian gods was identified with the sun and the solar disk was his symbol.  One of his names was Ra.  Another of his names was Amon, or “Amen.”  The Greeks identified him with Zeus and the Romans identified him with Jupiter. 

It strikes me as interesting that, in English speaking countries at least, every Christian prayer is ended by repeating the name of this king of the Egyptian Gods, “Amen.” 

So, in the old Egyptian worldview, you might say that Christian prayers are helping to keep the greatest of all the Egyptian gods alive by repeating his name in supplication at the end of every prayer, “Amen.”

***

Addendum

2014

It is entirely possible that this practice of saying, “Amen” actually is traceable back to Egypt.   The “twelve tribes” that left Egypt could have adopted the practice during their stay in Egypt.   There are several scenarios where this could have happened during those centuries, and I leave that discussion for a later time.  

In any event, the practice of saying “Amen” became ritual in ancient Israel and the origins of the practice were long lost to common memory.   When the Christians formed as a sect of Judiasm, they could have continued the practice of saying, “Amen” since they all considered themselves to be Jews.   As the Christian Church grew and spread, the practice of saying, “Amen” was continued as the natural part of ritual.   This practice of saying, “Amen” has continued to the present modern times.

In the nineteenth century when European explorers first translated the Egyptian hieroglyphics, linguists were troubled that the proper spelling and pronunciation of the name of the chief of the Egyptian Gods is “Amen.”   They used several diversionary spellings like Amon, or Amun, and even hyphenated the name as Jupiter-Amon, or Amon-Ra to further obscure the association.

Nevertheless, to me, it seems an intriguing coincidence and further evidence that the spiritual quest of man and the common ritual behaviors we perpetuate have ancient historical roots that stretch back to our earliest common beginnings.

Copyright ©2014

William A Schaeffer