Greg Reeder Wrote:
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> This one is really bad. I was shocked to see it so
> prominent in the Sunday Chronicle.
> And not one opposing expert on language. Pitiful.

Too true: This was the worst of it...(i.e., it's "African" origins")

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."

Er, as in /imn/ = "hidden"? I see. (Gods, please tell me there's more to this theory than simply this!)

I'd be interested in knowing how he's discoverered this "predynastic" language, when no one working in ancient Egyptian can make such a claim...

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom