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The Kebra Nagast: The Lost Bible of Rastafarian Wisdom and Faith from Ethiopia and Jamaica
The sacred Ethiopian text known as The Kebra Nagast tells the story of King Soloman, Makeda the Queen of Sheba, and their son Menyelik who hid the Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia. In this edition, selections have been taken from The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek and supplemented with tales of Gerald Hausman's experiences with Rastas in Jamaica. It closes with an appendix showing the links between the words of the Rasta prophet Bob Marley and the Bible.
205 pages, Hardcover
First published October 15, 1997
About the author
Gerald Hausman
131 books18 followersGerald Andrews Hausman is a storyteller and award-winning author of books about Native America, animals, mythology, and West Indian culture. Hausman comes from a long line of storytellers and educators, and has published over seventy books for both children and adults.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 9, 2015
This book was a good read and from a spiritual aspect very interesting to me. I don't want to spoil this so I suggest you read this one. I will be reading it again.
May 14, 2025
This was a wonderful collection of wisdom! Much retells classic biblical stories but offers the tale of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba as well as their son David II or Menykek I.
February 13, 2026
AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (WITH A GREAT DEAL OF ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY)
Ziggy Marley (the eldest son of Bob Marley) wrote in the Introduction to this 1997 book, “This book is about the mind. It is about black history, my history, my story. But you must see the way words can mislead because this book is not ‘his story,’ but our story… In school, when we were taught of the slave trade, we did not hear of the glory of the kings and the Kebra Nagast. We heard about ‘his story.’ We did not hear of African glory, black my story, the truth as revealed in the Kebra Nagast. We came to realize that even the Bible is just a version of the truth, and all of these versions are a part of the whole, a vision of what happened, is happening, and will happen.
“My father said, ‘It’s the last quarter before the year 2000, and righteousness---the positive way of thinking---must win.’ As I see it, the year 2000 is based on a Roman system of time measurement. The original counting of time, calendar days, months, and years, is not even near 2,000 yet. So the real calendar should have more significance, be rooted in spirituality, rooted in God-belief… What my father said, though, is prophecy. There is no way the negative can ultimately conquer. When the whole battle, the whole war, is won, it will be good things that prosper; goodness must prosper in the end…
“So it’s not just my father that made me what I am---it’s me as well. And people who see me sing cannot see the struggle that is behind the words that I sing. And it’s as I said in the beginning, it is all in the mind, like the calendar of our beginnings. And in these words here, now, Jah said to me, ‘Don’t worry about what you are going to say. Don’t worry, the words will come.’ And like the words of the Kebra Nagast, they come in their own time.” (Pg 7-10)
Editor Gerald Hausman wrote in the Preface, “Solomon’s hubris, his tragic flaw, is the meat and bone of the Ethiopian bible, the Kebra Nagast, which, translated, is ‘the glory of the kings.’ In this work… we see King Solomon struggling with his own mortality… yet his great passion gained him a son whose destiny matches his own. Bayna-Lehkem, or David, as he is called by Solomon (because of the boy’s likeness to his grandfather, King David), is a man of virtue, who will further Solomon’s work and extend his glory to Ethiopia.” (Pg. 11)
He continues, “The Kebra Nagast shows Solomon’s loss, as well as his gain. For it shows how Solomon is disinherited by the Lord when he marries the daughter of the pharaoh and worships his golden insect idols. For this he is punished severely, and we discern, not only in the Kebra Nagast but in the Bible… Solomon’s only joy, at the end of his career as king, according to the Kebra Nagast, is his belief that Bayna-Lehkem, his Ethiopian son, will outshine his own accomplishments and bring greater glory to a new Solomonic line of kings.
“By whom, we may ask, did Solomon acquire a son from the land of Ethiopia? Of course, the answer is the Queen of Sheba. She was, by all reports, a black woman, the Queen of the South… She was named Makeda, Sheba being only the country of her birth… The Kebra Nagast gives us reason to believe that Makeda studied Solomon’s wisdom and integrity as a ruler and brought it to Ethiopia. Then, having borne Solomon a son, she waited until the appropriate time and turned over the affairs of state to him, granting him all of her powers.” (Pg. 11-13)
He continues, “The claim of the Kebra Nagast is that God favored and loved the people of Ethiopia because they did not reject the Son of Man when he walked on earth. They, the text states, beheld and loved their savior. However, the richest claim of all is [about] the Ark of the Covenant, and this is the heart of the Kebra Nagast, and the thing that makes it a document of such inordinate fascination.. Much of the text deals with the removal of the Ark from the Temple by Bayna-Lekhem and its subsequent enshrinement in Ethiopia. According to the myth told here, the Ethiopians were guided by God’s angels, who enabled them to remove the Ark and carry it to Ethiopia. Legend holds that it resides there to this day.” (Pg. 13-14)
He explains in the ‘Editor’s Note,’ “The text of this edition of the Kebra Nagast was selected from a portion of a (1922) book entitled ‘The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek.’ … The translator… Dr. E.A. Wallis Budge… indicates that the earliest form of the text, written in … Ethiopic, appeared around the 6th century CE. The compiler was probably a Coptic priest. Subsequently, the text was translated into Arabic. Then, in the 14th century, the Kebra Nagast was once again translated into Ethiopic… So the Kebra Nagast is a work of centuries-old revisions and translations… There have been no accessible English translations since 1922.” (Pg. 15-16)
He goes on, “My own interest in the Kebra Nagast came about as I heard stories from it when I spoke to Rastafarians, most of whom had not read it, but all of whom knew of it… Dr. Budge states in his preface that the words he chose for the first English edition of the Kebra Nagast were as close to the original text as he could get them. But what was the original text? We have to assume that it was at best an oral history composed over many hundreds of years and recomposed, at will, by anyone so inclined. What is remarkable about the book is that its dissemination has remained… mostly oral.” (Pg. 16-17)
He reports, “Marcus Mosiah Garvey, the Jamaican liberator, created an Ethiopian/African movement, both political and religious, that is with us now… Moreover, it was Marcus Garvey who also quoted Psalem 68:31: ‘Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch her hands to Jah.’ … Garvey was making reference to Ras Tafari, Emperor Selassie I, the last of the Solomonic kings to be seated on an Ethiopian throne. In doing so, he released the seed that would grow into a religion…. That religion is, of course, Rastafari. The tenets of Rasta are buried deep in the Old Testament, but they have more in common with the Kebra Nagast than with the King James Bible.
“[T]he entire text of the Kebra Nagast is a paean to the Ethiopian people, the ‘chosen ones,’ the book says… The book’s claim for greatness must be legitimate, for if it were not, the text would not have been suppressed by European and African monarchs alike… Let us hope that we are ready to read it with an unbiased eye, today.” (Pg. 21)
He comments, “One of the primary codes of the traditional Rasta is to keep the locks from comb, scissors, or razor. This stems directly from the old Hebraic laws of nondefilement, as reaffirmed by members of the Ethiopian National Congress: ‘We strongly object to sharp implements used in the desecration of the Figure of Man; e.g., trimming and shaving, tattooing of the skin, and cutting of the flesh.’ The name of Samson is sacred to Rastafarians because he is the legendary locksman whose power ebbed away when he lost his hair.” (Pg. 48-49)
The Kebra Nagast states, “And the people of Ethiopia prospered because of their belief in the Lord; and when the Pearl, the Son of the Lord, was born, He wrought many signs and wonders… And the people of Ethiopia were loved by God because the Savior of the World, His Son, was beloved by them. And in the time when He was reborn to redeem Adam, they believed the signs and wonders that He wrought, though the people of Israel did not believe them. And for this reason God had deeply loved the people of Ethiopia.” (Pg. 148-149)
A major complaint I have about this edition is that it is very difficult to find the actual TEXT of the Kebra Nagast within; although theoretically about 140 pages are supposedly the Kebra Nagast, in practice the majority of these pages are devoted to the editor’s commentary, etc.
Ziggy Marley (the eldest son of Bob Marley) wrote in the Introduction to this 1997 book, “This book is about the mind. It is about black history, my history, my story. But you must see the way words can mislead because this book is not ‘his story,’ but our story… In school, when we were taught of the slave trade, we did not hear of the glory of the kings and the Kebra Nagast. We heard about ‘his story.’ We did not hear of African glory, black my story, the truth as revealed in the Kebra Nagast. We came to realize that even the Bible is just a version of the truth, and all of these versions are a part of the whole, a vision of what happened, is happening, and will happen.
“My father said, ‘It’s the last quarter before the year 2000, and righteousness---the positive way of thinking---must win.’ As I see it, the year 2000 is based on a Roman system of time measurement. The original counting of time, calendar days, months, and years, is not even near 2,000 yet. So the real calendar should have more significance, be rooted in spirituality, rooted in God-belief… What my father said, though, is prophecy. There is no way the negative can ultimately conquer. When the whole battle, the whole war, is won, it will be good things that prosper; goodness must prosper in the end…
“So it’s not just my father that made me what I am---it’s me as well. And people who see me sing cannot see the struggle that is behind the words that I sing. And it’s as I said in the beginning, it is all in the mind, like the calendar of our beginnings. And in these words here, now, Jah said to me, ‘Don’t worry about what you are going to say. Don’t worry, the words will come.’ And like the words of the Kebra Nagast, they come in their own time.” (Pg 7-10)
Editor Gerald Hausman wrote in the Preface, “Solomon’s hubris, his tragic flaw, is the meat and bone of the Ethiopian bible, the Kebra Nagast, which, translated, is ‘the glory of the kings.’ In this work… we see King Solomon struggling with his own mortality… yet his great passion gained him a son whose destiny matches his own. Bayna-Lehkem, or David, as he is called by Solomon (because of the boy’s likeness to his grandfather, King David), is a man of virtue, who will further Solomon’s work and extend his glory to Ethiopia.” (Pg. 11)
He continues, “The Kebra Nagast shows Solomon’s loss, as well as his gain. For it shows how Solomon is disinherited by the Lord when he marries the daughter of the pharaoh and worships his golden insect idols. For this he is punished severely, and we discern, not only in the Kebra Nagast but in the Bible… Solomon’s only joy, at the end of his career as king, according to the Kebra Nagast, is his belief that Bayna-Lehkem, his Ethiopian son, will outshine his own accomplishments and bring greater glory to a new Solomonic line of kings.
“By whom, we may ask, did Solomon acquire a son from the land of Ethiopia? Of course, the answer is the Queen of Sheba. She was, by all reports, a black woman, the Queen of the South… She was named Makeda, Sheba being only the country of her birth… The Kebra Nagast gives us reason to believe that Makeda studied Solomon’s wisdom and integrity as a ruler and brought it to Ethiopia. Then, having borne Solomon a son, she waited until the appropriate time and turned over the affairs of state to him, granting him all of her powers.” (Pg. 11-13)
He continues, “The claim of the Kebra Nagast is that God favored and loved the people of Ethiopia because they did not reject the Son of Man when he walked on earth. They, the text states, beheld and loved their savior. However, the richest claim of all is [about] the Ark of the Covenant, and this is the heart of the Kebra Nagast, and the thing that makes it a document of such inordinate fascination.. Much of the text deals with the removal of the Ark from the Temple by Bayna-Lekhem and its subsequent enshrinement in Ethiopia. According to the myth told here, the Ethiopians were guided by God’s angels, who enabled them to remove the Ark and carry it to Ethiopia. Legend holds that it resides there to this day.” (Pg. 13-14)
He explains in the ‘Editor’s Note,’ “The text of this edition of the Kebra Nagast was selected from a portion of a (1922) book entitled ‘The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek.’ … The translator… Dr. E.A. Wallis Budge… indicates that the earliest form of the text, written in … Ethiopic, appeared around the 6th century CE. The compiler was probably a Coptic priest. Subsequently, the text was translated into Arabic. Then, in the 14th century, the Kebra Nagast was once again translated into Ethiopic… So the Kebra Nagast is a work of centuries-old revisions and translations… There have been no accessible English translations since 1922.” (Pg. 15-16)
He goes on, “My own interest in the Kebra Nagast came about as I heard stories from it when I spoke to Rastafarians, most of whom had not read it, but all of whom knew of it… Dr. Budge states in his preface that the words he chose for the first English edition of the Kebra Nagast were as close to the original text as he could get them. But what was the original text? We have to assume that it was at best an oral history composed over many hundreds of years and recomposed, at will, by anyone so inclined. What is remarkable about the book is that its dissemination has remained… mostly oral.” (Pg. 16-17)
He reports, “Marcus Mosiah Garvey, the Jamaican liberator, created an Ethiopian/African movement, both political and religious, that is with us now… Moreover, it was Marcus Garvey who also quoted Psalem 68:31: ‘Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch her hands to Jah.’ … Garvey was making reference to Ras Tafari, Emperor Selassie I, the last of the Solomonic kings to be seated on an Ethiopian throne. In doing so, he released the seed that would grow into a religion…. That religion is, of course, Rastafari. The tenets of Rasta are buried deep in the Old Testament, but they have more in common with the Kebra Nagast than with the King James Bible.
“[T]he entire text of the Kebra Nagast is a paean to the Ethiopian people, the ‘chosen ones,’ the book says… The book’s claim for greatness must be legitimate, for if it were not, the text would not have been suppressed by European and African monarchs alike… Let us hope that we are ready to read it with an unbiased eye, today.” (Pg. 21)
He comments, “One of the primary codes of the traditional Rasta is to keep the locks from comb, scissors, or razor. This stems directly from the old Hebraic laws of nondefilement, as reaffirmed by members of the Ethiopian National Congress: ‘We strongly object to sharp implements used in the desecration of the Figure of Man; e.g., trimming and shaving, tattooing of the skin, and cutting of the flesh.’ The name of Samson is sacred to Rastafarians because he is the legendary locksman whose power ebbed away when he lost his hair.” (Pg. 48-49)
The Kebra Nagast states, “And the people of Ethiopia prospered because of their belief in the Lord; and when the Pearl, the Son of the Lord, was born, He wrought many signs and wonders… And the people of Ethiopia were loved by God because the Savior of the World, His Son, was beloved by them. And in the time when He was reborn to redeem Adam, they believed the signs and wonders that He wrought, though the people of Israel did not believe them. And for this reason God had deeply loved the people of Ethiopia.” (Pg. 148-149)
A major complaint I have about this edition is that it is very difficult to find the actual TEXT of the Kebra Nagast within; although theoretically about 140 pages are supposedly the Kebra Nagast, in practice the majority of these pages are devoted to the editor’s commentary, etc.
August 21, 2012
Beuatifull Ethiopia with a lots of Histroy.
July 3, 2013
I wanted to learn all about the Rastafarian religion so I started at the source. Beautiful. A belief system worth making note of.
April 15, 2019
"Woe unto us. For we have loved the word of the foolishness than the word of the wise. We have loved the word of the fool more than the wisdom of the prophet". -Solomon
I really loved the stories of King Solomon and The Queen of Sheeba. A lot of quotable passages from those two, words that I will definitely keep with me to live by. And the relationship that grew between the two of them base off of a love for one another's knowledge and wisdom. That was a beautiful thing to read about.
But, most of all I loved the stories that the editor/author relays about the Rasta men of Jamaica and the stories they tell him. I've always loved talking with Rastas because the way they simplify their words and sentences leaving what they say to be straight to the point but still packed with so much wisdom and truth. I say all the time that if Genies were really I'd want mine to be a Rasta man that pops up when I rub my mason jar full of weed. Their patios is poet to me and blends well with the knowledge and wisdom that they have, which exist mostly outside of conventional(Western/American) wisdom.
The story I loved the most was that between the editor/author and a "madman" named Runaway.
He and Runaway were not on the best of terms with each other because Runaway was a man with a mental-illness and he was always out in the street shouting about his hate for white men and specifically the editor/author, who is a white man. They never spoke to each other until a moment when Runways caught the editor/author with his back against a wall and holding a machete to his face ready to end him. The editor/author takes it upon himself to apologize to Runaway for never taking the time to speak to him (because he's a madman) all the years they crossed paths in town.
Saying, "Runaway, I am told that you are a kind and gentle soul. Why, I ask myself, over all of these years that we have seen one another, have I not gone forward to meet you? Why have I not come out so that we might speak to one another, man to man? I haven't an answer any more than you have an answer now for the thing you are doing- pushing a knife into the belly of your brother."
Runaway ended up lowering the machete and started to apologize to the man. Feeling touched that he was finally being seen as a human and not just a man with a mental-illness to be ignored.
What really topped this story off for me was what the editor/author's friend said after hearing about the incident.
Raggy said, "Even the dead have something to say, but a madman is no more mad than hungry. Give him a bowl of rice, and his tongue will work on food rather than insult. Enough people in this land just want to live. We go along everyday, taking this life for granted. Give thanks and praises for life, mon. Don't bow your head. Don't look down at your portion. Look up into the eyes of the man next to you, for that individual could be God himself. Yes, it is just so."
The editor/author closes this story with reflection saying, "We walk so thin a line, I think, between the dead and the mad, that our lives are made of nothing so dense as flesh nor so light as Spirit. We are made of each, but the choice is ours whether, as Bob Marley said, we wish to be as light as a feather or as heavy as lead, whether we wish to live in heaven or hell, whether we wish to sing with the angels or dance with the devils. The choice is ours."
That passage alone really touched me and helped me gather up a greater understanding of what is meant when Rastas say "I and I".
One Rasta man, Benji in another story in the book concludes, "Man and Jah(God/High-Spirit), together, in this flesh, in this moment. The only angel we'll ever need."
I really loved the stories of King Solomon and The Queen of Sheeba. A lot of quotable passages from those two, words that I will definitely keep with me to live by. And the relationship that grew between the two of them base off of a love for one another's knowledge and wisdom. That was a beautiful thing to read about.
But, most of all I loved the stories that the editor/author relays about the Rasta men of Jamaica and the stories they tell him. I've always loved talking with Rastas because the way they simplify their words and sentences leaving what they say to be straight to the point but still packed with so much wisdom and truth. I say all the time that if Genies were really I'd want mine to be a Rasta man that pops up when I rub my mason jar full of weed. Their patios is poet to me and blends well with the knowledge and wisdom that they have, which exist mostly outside of conventional(Western/American) wisdom.
The story I loved the most was that between the editor/author and a "madman" named Runaway.
He and Runaway were not on the best of terms with each other because Runaway was a man with a mental-illness and he was always out in the street shouting about his hate for white men and specifically the editor/author, who is a white man. They never spoke to each other until a moment when Runways caught the editor/author with his back against a wall and holding a machete to his face ready to end him. The editor/author takes it upon himself to apologize to Runaway for never taking the time to speak to him (because he's a madman) all the years they crossed paths in town.
Saying, "Runaway, I am told that you are a kind and gentle soul. Why, I ask myself, over all of these years that we have seen one another, have I not gone forward to meet you? Why have I not come out so that we might speak to one another, man to man? I haven't an answer any more than you have an answer now for the thing you are doing- pushing a knife into the belly of your brother."
Runaway ended up lowering the machete and started to apologize to the man. Feeling touched that he was finally being seen as a human and not just a man with a mental-illness to be ignored.
What really topped this story off for me was what the editor/author's friend said after hearing about the incident.
Raggy said, "Even the dead have something to say, but a madman is no more mad than hungry. Give him a bowl of rice, and his tongue will work on food rather than insult. Enough people in this land just want to live. We go along everyday, taking this life for granted. Give thanks and praises for life, mon. Don't bow your head. Don't look down at your portion. Look up into the eyes of the man next to you, for that individual could be God himself. Yes, it is just so."
The editor/author closes this story with reflection saying, "We walk so thin a line, I think, between the dead and the mad, that our lives are made of nothing so dense as flesh nor so light as Spirit. We are made of each, but the choice is ours whether, as Bob Marley said, we wish to be as light as a feather or as heavy as lead, whether we wish to live in heaven or hell, whether we wish to sing with the angels or dance with the devils. The choice is ours."
That passage alone really touched me and helped me gather up a greater understanding of what is meant when Rastas say "I and I".
One Rasta man, Benji in another story in the book concludes, "Man and Jah(God/High-Spirit), together, in this flesh, in this moment. The only angel we'll ever need."
July 4, 2019
Fascinating from a spritual and philosophical point of view, yes, but also fascinating from a cultural and historical point of view too.
From Ziggy Marley's beautiful introduction onwards, the book is engaging, captivating and above all thought-provoking. The emergence of Rastafarianism continues: and you can see how things that occur become stories handed down, which in turn become myths and/or the outer clothing of a religion. Not because some external influence is forcing it, but because those myths, those things that occured contain an element of universal truth that we all respond to.
As a white person only vaguely aware of black history (but acutely aware of the many sided prejudice inherent in the society I live in) when I read this first I found it a great read. With greater awareness has come, I hope, a little more understanding on my part. And re-reading this has been a catalyst that has helped create it for me.
It's about faith, of course it is. But it's also about wisdom. And maybe if the one isn't working today, maybe the other one will: we all need a little more true wisdom wherever we can get it from.
From Ziggy Marley's beautiful introduction onwards, the book is engaging, captivating and above all thought-provoking. The emergence of Rastafarianism continues: and you can see how things that occur become stories handed down, which in turn become myths and/or the outer clothing of a religion. Not because some external influence is forcing it, but because those myths, those things that occured contain an element of universal truth that we all respond to.
As a white person only vaguely aware of black history (but acutely aware of the many sided prejudice inherent in the society I live in) when I read this first I found it a great read. With greater awareness has come, I hope, a little more understanding on my part. And re-reading this has been a catalyst that has helped create it for me.
It's about faith, of course it is. But it's also about wisdom. And maybe if the one isn't working today, maybe the other one will: we all need a little more true wisdom wherever we can get it from.
September 3, 2026
If you're looking for a copy of the Kebra Nagast with thoughtful commentary on how it relates to Rastafarian faith and practice, this ain't it. Instead, you get extended excerpts of the Kebra Nagast randomly interspersed with the editor's reflections on his time living among the Rastas in Jamaica.
So basically... half the book is the Kebra Nagast, an ethno-centric fanfiction of the Old Testament, culminating in Solomon's familial drama. In that way, it reads very much like a medieval and dynastic propaganda piece, as it explains how the heavenly Zion (the Ark of the Covenant & God's presence) was supernaturally transported to Ethiopia along with Solomon's wise son, who was born to the Queen of Sheba. The other half of the book (unhelpfully breaking of the Kebra Nagast's own narrative) is the ramblings of the editor as he communicates the theologically incoherent yet culturally quaint spiritual & cultural practices of Jamaican Rastas. A strong emphasis is placed upon Bob Marley as a prophet and Rasta as a peaceful, Bible-based, spiritually empowered movement - make of that what you will, but it is far from a balanced image of Rastafari.
So basically... half the book is the Kebra Nagast, an ethno-centric fanfiction of the Old Testament, culminating in Solomon's familial drama. In that way, it reads very much like a medieval and dynastic propaganda piece, as it explains how the heavenly Zion (the Ark of the Covenant & God's presence) was supernaturally transported to Ethiopia along with Solomon's wise son, who was born to the Queen of Sheba. The other half of the book (unhelpfully breaking of the Kebra Nagast's own narrative) is the ramblings of the editor as he communicates the theologically incoherent yet culturally quaint spiritual & cultural practices of Jamaican Rastas. A strong emphasis is placed upon Bob Marley as a prophet and Rasta as a peaceful, Bible-based, spiritually empowered movement - make of that what you will, but it is far from a balanced image of Rastafari.
January 3, 2024
Ethiopian adaptation of the Bible that doesn't add much beyond stories that transparently nationalist legitimacy through the figure of Queen Makeba. It's a useful insight into the local history of Ethiopia, its religious traditions and Rastafarianism, but not much else. The best parts of the book were actually the travelogue to Jamaica where the author draws a link between the Kebra Nagast and modern traditions, for example the dreadlocks (I never knew they were derived from the story of Samson!).
March 8, 2024
A well put together chronicle of what I understand to be the origin story of the Rasta movement. The preface helped, and while I found the author to be somewhat “braggy” about his Rasta status, the people he speaks to have great things to share: “When you use nice words, Mon, you nice up the whole scene.” (p. 163)
August 31, 2023
This was an eclectic Ethio-centric retelling of the Bible.
Fun fact: The book is narrated by Gregory the Illuminator who baptized Armenia in 301, another Oriental Orthodox nation, sharing common roots with the Ethiopian church.
Fun fact: The book is narrated by Gregory the Illuminator who baptized Armenia in 301, another Oriental Orthodox nation, sharing common roots with the Ethiopian church.
February 25, 2024
Fascinating to see how God moves and speaks to people through different cultural histories. I learned more about the Father from this book even though it’s not in the Christian bible. Evangelicals should read this book but with the spirit over the mind.
September 14, 2019
IRIE BOOK
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2024
It is a special hidden gem, what everyone should read I think.
December 8, 2024
A beautiful piece of Rastafarian history. I absolutely loved this.
May 29, 2025
Roots reggae music is enmeshed with Rastafari. It was so dope learning the meaning behind the lyrics. Babylon, Zion, Irie, Jah, Rastaman, Hope, Love, I want to go to Jamaica now.
September 1, 2025
Got forty pages in…it’s a very dumbed down cliff notes Bible…
December 22, 2025
"Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands to God and he shall receive her with honor and the kings of the earth shall praise God.
Jah Rastafari
Jah Rastafari
April 30, 2024
A really interesting dive into the Kebra Nagast, an Ethiopian religious text that focuses on King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and their son, as well as a dive into contemporary Jamaica and Rastafarian philosophy. Parts of the book are written by Ziggy Marley, son of Bob Marley. The book dives into the wisdom of Bob Marley and how it relates to the Kebra Nagast.
Not at all what I was expecting when I picked this book up (I thought it was going to be only a religious text!) but a welcomed surprise. I learned a lot!
Not at all what I was expecting when I picked this book up (I thought it was going to be only a religious text!) but a welcomed surprise. I learned a lot!
Want to Read
April 26, 2012I've had this book FOREVER and I've yet to read it....
December 23, 2022
Wisdom is joy to the heart, light to the eye, speed to the foot, and shield to the breast.
June 24, 2015
Very clear interpretation of the values and morals of the Rastafarian culture.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews