Zera Yacobs is an Ethiopian philosopher born in the city of Aksum (the former capital) on August 26, 1599. Zera Yacobs names means “The Seed of Jacob” in his native Ge’ez language (Zar means seed). Although Yacobs family were poor farmers, his father sent his to traditional school where he studied Psalms of David under the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faith.
Yacob’s study of the Christianity rooted beliefs in him that cut against the grain of not only Emperor Susenyo (who denounced Yacob through his conversion to Roman Catholic faith), but the Catholic Church. A priest who was a friend of the king accused Yacob of misleading the people to rebel against the king. On learning of these charges, Yacob took some of his possessions (gold and Bible) and fled in the night to an uninhabited cave in Shoa. He lived here for about two years as a hermit praying, reading the Psalms of David and only venturing out to the market to beg food. (C. Sumner, p.231) )https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zera_Yacob_(philosopher)#Further_reading It is here that Yacob developed his inquiries whether “everything that is written in the Holy Scriptures true?” which became known as the Hatata (C. Sumner, p.233).
The first Hatata was written by Yacob and the second is written by his student Walda Heywat years after his death. They were first discovered and translated from its original Ge’ez language to Italian and Latin in 1904 by Scholar Enno Littman. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Littmann_gruppenfoto.JPG/330px-Littmann_gruppenfoto.JPG These Hatatas’ are philosophical texts affirming ethical approaches to God, knowledge, values, morals, and principles to live by on a daily basis. Such treatises are held in disrepute because they derived outside the traditional spheres of philosophical influence. They highlight the thoughtful journey of the author as he struggles to reconcile his existence in the most rational manner.
Yacob died in 1692 in Emfraz, where he lived for the past 25 years (this year was recorded by his student Walda Hewat in the treatise). The writing of the Hatata’s has been in dispute with it’s comparison to Descartes about the knowledge of God’s existence and human intelligence.
