Ukurasa huu unamhusu Zera Yakobu, mwanafalsafa wa karne ya 17. Kuhusu mwanamfalme, tazama Zera Yakobu Amha Selassie. Kuhusu negus, tazama Zara Yaqob. Zera Yakobu (kwa Kigeez ዘርአ:ያዕቆብ, zar'ā yāʿiqōb "Mbegu ya Yakobu", siku hizi zer'a yā'iqōb, Zärˀä Yaˁqob, Zar'a Ya'aqob, au Zar'a Ya'eqob; 1599–1692) alikuwa mwanafalsafa wa Ethiopia. Kitabu chake cha mwaka 1667, Hatata, kilitokea wakati ambapo falsafa ya Kiafrika ilikuwa inategemea mapokeo iliyorithiwa kwa sauti. Kumbe yeye aliamini ni vema kwa mtu kufuata hoja za akili yake, si kufuata anachoambiwa na wengine. Teodros Kiros, "Zera Yacob and Traditional Ethiopian Philosophy," in Wiredu and Abraham, eds., A Companion to African Philosophy, 2004. Enno Littmann. Philosophi Abessini. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Vol. 18, Scriptores Aethiopici, Presses Républicaines, 1904. Contains the Ge'ez text of Zera Yacob's treatise. Claude Sumner, Ethiopian Philosophy, vol. II: The Treatise of Zara Yaecob and Walda Hewat: Text and Authorship, Commercial Printing Press, 1976.