Last night after saying prayers before bed, my son asked me what "Amen" means. I'll admit that I drew a blank and gave some lame answer like "because that's how most prayers end." Having kids is akin to being on Jeopardy 24/7. There are lots of questions. You never know what's coming next. Or when it's coming. You get most of them right but every now and then (insert buzzer sound here) you just draw a blank.So tonight I will inform him that Amen comes from the Hebrew word meaning "truth." So when you say Amen you are affirming or agreeing or accepting that what you just said is the truth.
What I found interesting, though, is that in Egyptian mythology there was a god named Amun (also spelled Amen). Amun was self-created, without a mother or father. It is said that he created all things. Amun was the Egyptian god of life and reproduction, sometimes depicted as a man with a ram's head.
The name of the Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun (a.k.a. King Tut), contains the name "Amun" in it. Even more interesting is that it also contains the word "Ankh," which was the subject of Post No. 35. Ankh means "Life." Tutankhamun's name means "Long Life to Amun."
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