The Kebra Nagast: The Lost Bible of Rastafarian Wisdom and Faith from Ethiopia and Jamaica

by Gerald Hausman, Ziggy Marley (Introduction)

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.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Africa, Spirituality, History, Epic, Christianity

205 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 1997

About the author

Gerald 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.

Reviews

[Chamian Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[The Beloved Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beuatifull Ethiopia with a lots of Histroy.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to learn all about the Rastafarian religion so I started at the source. Beautiful. A belief system worth making note of.

[Deon Bledsoe-Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

"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."

[A gin and orange, a lemon squash, and a scotch and water, please! · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Brian Cham · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!).

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

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)

[Hibiscus · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Chloe Angeles · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Gashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

IRIE BOOK

[Marie Manson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a special hidden gem, what everyone should read I think.

[Lauryn Facey (Nelson) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful piece of Rastafarian history. I absolutely loved this.

[Connor Peddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Oakley C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got forty pages in…it’s a very dumbed down cliff notes Bible…

[Jolan]

I've had this book FOREVER and I've yet to read it....

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear interpretation of the values and morals of the Rastafarian culture.