Religious Reformation and Ethical Transformation in the Hatata of Zera Yaeqob and Welda Heywat

Abstract

The Hatatas of Zera Yaeqob and Welda Heywat are seen as the precursors of a written Ethiopian philosophy. Commentators on these texts such as Claude Sumner and Teodros Kiros argue that, one is able to locate the Cartesian mode of subjectivity in the Hatatas. Against this, this paper argues that the form of subjectivity found in the Hatatas of Zera Yaeqob and Welda Heywat is not fully demythologized and dwells in the background of religious authority, and therefore should not be identified with the Cartesian conception of the human subject. Alternatively, I argue that the goal of the Hatatas is attaining religious reformation. The form of subjectivity found in the Hatatas is founded on communal life and religious experience. The paper concludes that the Hatatas of Zera Yaeqob and Welda Heywat should be read as a call for religious renewal and ethical transformation.