Thinkers Timeline

Zera Yacob was an Ethiopian philosopher of the seventeenth century. His main work is a short book called the Hatata, which means 'inquiry' or 'investigation'. According to the Hatata itself, he was born on 28 August 1599 near Aksum, an ancient city in northern Ethiopia. His father was a poor farmer. Despite this, his father sent him to school. He studied the Psalms of David and was educated in the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faith. He was a quick learner and went on to higher religious schooling for ten years. The Hatata describes a hard turning point in his life. The Ethiopian emperor Susenyos had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1622 and ordered all his subjects to follow him. Zera Yacob refused. He was denounced by enemies and feared for his life. He fled with a small bag of gold and the Book of Psalms. He found a cave near the Tekezé River and lived there as a hermit for two years. He prayed, thought, and developed his philosophy. After the death of Susenyos in 1632, his son Fasilides became emperor and restored the Orthodox faith. Zera Yacob came out of hiding. He was given shelter by a wealthy man named Habtu, whose son Walda Heywat became his student. Zera Yacob worked as a teacher and scribe. In 1668, when he was about 68, he wrote down the Hatata at Walda Heywat's request. He died in 1692 or 1693, aged about 93. The text was rediscovered in Europe in the early 1900s.