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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Scholar traces origins of 'Amen' Scholar traces origins of 'Amen' He says word is of African, not Hebrew, origin By Robert Kelly-Goss COX NEWS SERVICE ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. -- "Thank you, God. Amen." That phrase, and the last word more specifically, is very familiar to millions of English-speaking Christians, Jews and Muslims worldwide. Prayers of these three major monotheistic religions are typically closed with the word, "amen." For many the word amen means, "so be it," or "it is so." In the Western world of religion the credit for the word is given to the Hebrew texts of the Old Testament, or Jewish Torah. Christians adopted the word, as well as the Muslims. But the origin of the word is under contention. It does not, says one Elizabeth City State University professor, trace its roots back to the Hebrew people; rather, the word can be traced to pre-dynastic Egypt, in the region of Africa known as the Sudan, to be more specific. "The word (amen) pre-dates ancient Egypt," says history professor, Jahi Issa. "It means the unseen principles of God." Issa is co-author with another scholar, Salim Faraji, of the book The Origin of the Word Amen: Ancient Knowledge the Bible Has Never Told, and it suggests far more than a simple origin of one of the most uttered words in the world. Issa started the journey toward his discovery when he began making trips to Africa, 26 in all so far. He would travel back and forth between Ghana and Egypt. Through his travels and studies, Issa says, he began to notice similarities between ancient Egyptian culture and contemporary Ghana. That observation led him to academic books on divine kingship and ancient cultures, including one from an Oxford University professor who pointed him to the Akan people of Ghana and a 1999 article in The New York Times. The article, Issa says, reported on the DNA connection between the Lemda people of southern Africa and the early Hebrew people. Through that article and other academic research, Issa came up with several realizations. One was that the origins of early biblical figures such as the Hebrews were most likely African, not Palestinian Arabs. Two, the word amen is derived from a pre-dynastic Egyptian culture found in the Sudan. In essence, Issa is making the claim that there was an ancient kingship similar to Egypt that gave birth to the dynastic pharaohs of the Nile region who happen to be from the Sudan. Those people not only influenced the Egyptian dynasties, but they also migrated northwest to what is now Ghana and their culture can be seen in West Africa to this day. But what does that have to do with the word amen? Well, Issa suggests that the word amen has its roots in the ancient name for the pharaoh, Amen, or in some cases spelled Amun. In his book he points out that the word amen can be found in much of ancient Africa's culture and that it predates the Hebrew people. OK, but what does the book and its claims mean to contemporary society? "The significance of the book is that historically when it comes to religion, because of Europe's 500-year dominance of the world, people have been misled to think the people of the Bible were European, and they were not. They were people of color," says Issa. In other words, if the origin of the word amen is ancient Sudanese and that means that the world's three major monotheistic religions owe its beginnings to that region, not what we know as the Middle East, it would also suggest that, as Issa puts it, "Jesus was a black man with kinky hair." For many contemporary scholars, the idea that Jesus was likely akin to contemporary Palestinian people is not far-fetched. But few have gone so far as to maintain that Jesus had the same physical traits as a man from, say, Ghana. Issa, along with other scholars, is firm in his belief and is certain that even the origins of humankind, according to the Bible, can be found in Africa. Eden, Issa says, is in Ethiopia, and the Book of Genesis says as much. For Issa, it's a significant step toward bringing people together to convince them that, yes, the world owes much of its cultural and religious origins to Africa. He hopes one day all churches will depict Jesus as a black man and, similarly, he hopes that acceptance will work toward bringing people together, and not asunder, because of the color of one's skin. Issa is certain that there are many scholars and people in the general public that would give him an "amen" on that point. http://www.kentucky.com/158/story/246204.html
Poster Comment: amen Ra. etc. not to be confused with Ramen, Ah... author is a man with a hyphenated last name. whatever's right.
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