The Hatata Inquiries: Two Texts of Seventeenth-Century African Philosophy from Ethiopia about Reason, the Creator, and Our Ethical Responsibilities

Zara Yaqob; Walda Heywat

Published by De Gruyter 2024

The Hatata Inquiries

Two Texts of Seventeenth-Century African Philosophy from Ethiopia about Reason, the Creator, and Our Ethical Responsibilities

Zara Yaqob and Walda Heywat
Edited by: Ralph Lee , Mehari Worku and Wendy Laura Belcher
In collaboration with: Jeremy R. Brown
Translated by: Ralph Lee , Mehari Zemelak Worku and Wendy Laura Belcher
Preface by: Dag Herbjørnsrud

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110781922

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Hatata Inquiries are two extraordinary texts of African philosophy composed in Ethiopia in the 1600s. Written in the ancient African language of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), these explorations of meaning and reason are deeply considered works of rhetoric. They advocate for women’s rights and rail against slavery. They offer ontological proofs for God and question biblical commands while delighting in the language of Psalms. They advise on right living. They put reason above belief, desire above asceticism, love above sectarianism, and the natural world above the human. They explore the nature of being as well as the nature of knowledge, the human, ethics, and the human relation with the divine. They are remarkable examples of something many assume doesn’t exist: early written African thought.

This accessible English translation of the Hatata Inquiries, along with extensive footnotes documenting the cultural and historical context and the work’s many textual allusions, enables all to read it and scholars to teach with it. The Hatata Inquiries are essential to understanding the global history of philosophy, being among the early works of rational philosophy.

The book includes a translation by Ralph Lee with Mehari Worku and Wendy Laura Belcher of the Hatata Zara Yaqob and the Hatata Walda Heywat. The appendices by Jeremy R. Brown provide information on the scribal interventions in and the differences between the manuscripts of the two Hatatas. The book also includes a map, chronology, summary of the translation principles, and a discussion of the authorship debate about the Hatata Inquiries.

Author / Editor information

Ralph Lee, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies; Mehari Zemelak Worku, Catholic Univ. of America; Wendy Laura Belcher, Princeton Univ.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Preface Dag Herbjørnsrud Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Maps and Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	XV
Simplified Spellings of Geʿez Words Publicly Available Download PDF	XIX
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	XXIII
Chronology of Events regarding the Hatata Inquiries Publicly Available Download PDF	XXV
Introduction to the Hatata Inquiries Wendy Laura Belcher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Manuscripts of the Texts Wendy Laura Belcher and Jeremy Brown Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
The Authorship of the Hatata Inquiries Wendy Laura Belcher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
Translation Principles Wendy Laura Belcher and Ralph Lee Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
Translation of the Hatata Zara Yaqob Ralph Lee, Mehari Worku and Wendy Laura Belcher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
Translation of the Hatata Walda Heywat Ralph Lee, Mehari Worku and Wendy Laura Belcher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Appendix 1: Chart of Differences between Abb 215 and Abb 234 of Hatata Zara Yaqob Jeremy R. Brown, Ralph Lee and Mehari Worku Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Appendix 2: Scribal Intervention in Abb 215 and Abb 234 Jeremy R. Brown and Wendy Laura Belcher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Philosophers, historians, theologians, libraries, institutes
Pages
- Front matter: 27
- Main content: 207
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 9
- Coloured Illustrations: 0
- Tables: 0
Keywords: African intellectual history; African theology; African autobiography; Ethiopian studies

eBook

Published: November 20, 2023
ISBN: 9783110781922

Hardcover

Published: November 20, 2023
ISBN: 9783110781878