GAD (Ι∣) in Hebrew and Chaldee means “luck”; hence, in the Phoenician and Babylonian cultus, the god of luck, who is mentioned in Isa. lxv. 11 (where for “that troop” should be read “Gad”), and whose name appears in several names of places, such as Baal-Gad (Josh. xi. 17, xii. 7); possibly also in Dibon-Gad, Migdol-Gad, and Nahal-Gad. Gad was the name given by Leah, the wife of Jacob, to the patriarch’s seventh son, the first-born of Zilpah, her maid; see Gen. xxx. 11, where the Hebrew K’tib is *1⅞3, and the K’ri “U K3. The former is adopted by the LXX., and rightly rendered «V τvχr] (Vulgate feliciter)·, the latter reading is adopted in the Targums and Peshito, which translate “luck is come,” and by the Samaritan and Ven., which interpret the expression as meaning “a troop (or army) is come.” This last rendering has doubtless been influenced by Gen. xlix. 19, where the name is played on as if it were *BΙ∣, “a plundering troop”; “Gad, a plundering troop shall plunder him, but he shall plunder at their heels.” Of the personal history of Gad nothing is related. According to Gen. xlvi. 16, he had seven sons when he went down to Egypt along with Jacob; and in Num. xxvi. 15 these appear as seven families, one of the names, however, being changed (Ozni for Ezbon). At the Exodus the tribe numbered 45,650 fighting men (Num. i. 25); but they declined to 40,500 during the forty years’ wandering in the wilderness (Num. xxvi. 18). During the subsequent period the fortunes of this tribe were very closely connected with those of the tribe of Reuben. At the division of the country a portion in the trans-Jordanie territory was, at their special request, allotted to them by Moses (Num. xxxii. 33), and this arrangement was carried out by ...Joshua; but considerable difficulty arises when the attempt is made to define the precise limits of the district thus assigned. It is certain that Gad never extended further west than the Jordan; but in different passages we find its northern, eastern, and southern boundaries stretched as far as to the Sea of Galilee, Salkah in the desert, and the river Arnon respectively. In the book of Numbers (xxxii. 34) the cities of Gad appear to lie chiefly to the south of Heshbon; in Joshua xiii. 24-28 they lie almost wholly to the north; while other texts present discrepancies that are not easily reconciled with either passage. That Gad, at one time at least, held territory as far south as Pisgah and Nebo would follow from Deut, xxxiii. 21, if the rendering of the Targums, revived by Ewald and Diestel, were to be accepted—“and he looked out the first part for himself, because there was the portion of the buried lawgiver;” it is certain, however, that, at a late period, this tribe was localized chiefly in Gilead, in the district which now goes by the name of Jebel Jilad. Possibly some cities were common to both Reuben and Gad, and perhaps 0ther3 more than once changed hands. Both tribes were pastoral and warlike; but the latter seems to have excelled in bravery and force of character, and indeed there are indications that the tribe of Reuben had been absorbed, or become extinct, at a somewhat early date. David’s men of Gad (1 Chr. xii. 8) are famous, and Jephthah and Elijah seem to have belonged to that tribe. It followed Jeroboam in the great revolt against the house of David; and a genealogy, a3 at the time of Jeroboam II., is given in 1 Chr. v. 11-16, where the names are in every case different from those in Numbers. The tribe was “carried into captivity” by Tiglath Pileser in the 8th century b.c. (1 Chr. v. 26; comp. 2 Kings XV. 29), and at this point it wholly disappears from history.
GAD is also the name of a “prophet” or “seer,” who was· probably a pupil of Samuel at Naioth, and a companion of David, to whom he early attached himself. It is not known to which tribe he belonged. He is first mentioned in 1 Sam. xxii. 5 as having joined David while he was “in the hold;” and he afterwards became a member of his regal court, where he seems to have held an official position, being occasionally designated as “the king’s seer.” He assisted in organizing the musical service of the “houso of of God” (2 Chr. xxix. 25), and also wrote a “book of the acts of David,” which is referred to in 1 Chr. xxix. 29.
was the name of the son of Jacob and Zilpah, Leah’s servant, Gen. xxx, 9–11. Leah, Jacob’s wife, gave him also Zilpah, that by her she might have children. Zilpah brought a son, whom Leah called Gad, saying, “A troop cometh.” Gad had seven sons, Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli, Genesis xlvi, 16. Jacob, blessing Gad, said, “A troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last,” Gen. xlix, 19; and Moses, in his last song, mentions Gad as “a lion which teareth the arm with the crown of the head,” &c, Deut. xxxiii, 20, 21. The tribe of Gad came out of Egypt in number forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. After the defeat of the kings Og and Sihon, Gad and Reuben desired to have their lot in the conquered country, and alleged their great number of cattle. Moses granted their request, on condition that they would accompany their brethren, and assist in the conquest of the land beyond Jordan. Gad had his inheritance between Reuben south, and Manasseh north, with the mountains of Gilead east, and Jordan west....
GAD, a prophet, David’s friend, who followed him when persecuted by Saul. The Scripture calls him a prophet and David’s seer, 2 Sam. xxiv, 11. The first time we find him with this prince is when he fled into the land of Moab, 1 Sam. xxii, 5, to secure his father and mother in the first year of Saul’s persecution. The Prophet Gad warned him to return into the land of Judah. After David had determined to number his people, the Lord sent to him the Prophet Gad, to offer him his choice of three scourges: seven years’ famine, or three months’ flight before his enemies, or three days’ pestilence. Gad also directed David to erect an altar to the Lord, in the threshing floor of Ornan or Araunah, the Jebusite, 2 Sam. xxiv, 13–19; and he wrote a history of David’s life, cited in 1 Chron. xxix, 29.
GADAMES, Ghadames, or Rhadâmes, the chief town of an oasis of the same name, in that part of the Sahara which belongs to the regency of Tripoli, not far from the frontier of Algeria. According to Dr Rohlfs, the last form of the word more correctly represents the Arabic pronunciation; but the other forms are more usual in European books. The whole oasis is surrounded by a dilapidated wall varying in height from 12 to 20 feet, and it requires about an hour and a half to make the circuit of the enclosure at an ordinary walking pace. In the town proper the streets are narrow and tortuous, and they are usually covered in overhead to keep out the heat. Its public buildings comprise six mosques and seven schools; and it is worthy of note that all the inhabitants can read and write, and that those who cannot pay for their children are allowed to send them to school free of charge. The Gadamsi merchants have been known for centuries as keen and adventurous traders, and their commercial establishments are to be found in many of the more important cities of northern and central Africa, such as Kano, Katsema, Timbuctoo. Gadames itself is the centre of a large number of caravan routes, and it is calculated that, on an average, about 30,000 laden camels enter its markets every year. At the time of Richardson’s visit in 1845 the total population was estimated at 3000, of whom about 500 were slaves and strangers, and upwards of 1200 children; but it now amounts in round numbers to 7000 or even 10,000. The natives are mainly of Berber descent, although their blood has from generation to generation been mingled with that of Negro slaves from various parts of Africa. It is evident, from the remains that are still extant, that the oasis of Gadames was formerly inhabited by people whose ...architecture was of Roman origin; and it is not unlikely that the Romans themselves may have been attracted to the spot by the presence of the warm springs which still rise in the heart of the town, and spread fertility in the surrounding gardens. An identification has been made with Cydamus, a town mentioned by Pliny. See Largeau in Drill, de la soc. géogr. de Paris, 1877.
GADARA, an ancient city of Syria, in the Decapolis, about 6 miles S.E. of the Sea of Galilee, on the banks of the Hieromax. The site, now called Um Keis, is marked by extensive ruins, which are quite in keeping with the statements of Josephus and Polybius that Gadara was the capital of Peraea, and one of the most strongly fortified places in the country. The walls can still be traced in a circuit of about 2 miles; one of the principal streets—a via recta, or straight street—has evidently been bordered on both sides by colonnades; and two theatres are the most noticeable of the ruined edifices. The cliffs round the town are full of tombs excavated in the limestone rock, and by a curious irony of fate these chambers of the dead are the only places where a living inhabitant of Gadara is to be found. According to Josephus, Gadara was a Greek city, and it appears at least not improbable that it was a foreign settlement. The name doe3 not occur in the Scriptures; but in the New Testament, the phrase “the country of the Gadarenes” is used more than once, and there is no reason to doubt that the vicinity of the town was the scene of the healing of the demoniacs by the Saviour, recorded in Matt, viii., Mark v,, and Luke viii. Josephus informs us that Gadara was captured by Antiochus in 218 b.c., and, about 20 years afterwards, stood a ten months’ siege by Alexander Jannaeus. It was twice taken by Vespasian, though, on the fiTst occasion, the Jewish inhabitants offered a stout resistance. At a later period it recovered from the injuries he inflicted, and was one of the most beautiful and flourishing cities of Syria; and it was not till after the Mahometan conquest that it fell again into decay. Its archaeon or prefecture is mentioned in the Midrash Rabba (circa 278) and ...other Jewish writings. According to Dr 0. Blau the town was also known as the Arabian Antioch. To the literary student it is interesting as the birthplace of Meleager the anthologist.
See Porter in Joum. of Sacred Literature, vol. vi.; Journ. Asiatique, 1867, p. 191; Zeitseh. d. B. Morg. Ges., 1869.
a city which gave name to the country of the Gadarenes; situated on a steep rocky hill on the river Hieromax, or Yermuck, about five miles from its junction with the Jordan. It was a place of considerable note in the time of Josephus, and the metropolis of Peræa, or the country beyond Jordan. It was also celebrated for its hot baths. The vicinity was likewise called the country of the Gergesenes, from Gerasa, or Gergesa, another considerable city in the same neighbourhood. Thus the miracle of our Lord performed here is represented by St. Mark to have been done in the country of the Gadarenes, Mark v, 1; and by St. Matthew, in that of the Gergesenes, Matt. viii, 28.
GADDI. Four painters of the early Florentine school— father, son, and two grandsons—bore this name.
1. Gaddo Gaddi (1239 to about 1312) was, according to Va3ari, an intimate friend of Cimabue, and afterwards of Giotto. He was a painter and mosaist, is said to have executed the great mosaic inside the portal of the cathedral of Florence, representing the coronation of the Virgin, and may with more certainty be credited with the mosaics inside the portico of the basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, Rome, relating to the legend of the foundation of that church; their date is probably 1308. In the original cathedral of St Peter in Rome, he also executed the mosaics of the choir, and those of the front, representing on a colossal scale God the Father, with many other figures; likewise an altarpiece in the church of S. Maria Novella, Florence; these works no longer exist. It is ordinarily held that no picture (as distinct from mosaics) by Gaddo Gaddi is now extant. Messrs Crowe & Cavalcaselle, however, consider that the mosaics of S. Maria Maggiore bear so strong a resemblance in style to four of the frescos in the upper church of Assisi, representing incidents in the life of St Francis (frescos 2, 3, 4, and especially 5, which shows Francis stripping himself, and protected by the bishop), that those frescos likewise may, with considerable confidence, be ascribed to Gaddi. Some other extant mosaics are attributed to him, but without full authentication. This artist laid the foundation of a very large fortune, which continued increasing, and placed his progeny in a highly distinguished worldly position....
2. Taddeo Gaddi (about 1300-1366, or later), son of Gaddo, was born in Florence, and became one of Giotto’s most industrious assistants for a period (as usually stated) of 24 years. This can hardly be other than an exaggeration; it is probable that he began painting on his own account towards 1330, when Giotto went to Naples. Taddeo also traded as a merchant, and had a branch establishment in Venice. He was a painter, mosaist, and architect. He executed in fresco, in the Baroncelli (now Giugni) chapel, in the Florentine church of S. Croce, the Virgin and Child between Four Prophets, on the funeral monument at the entrance, and on the walls various incidents in the legend of the Virgin, from the Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple up to the Nativity. In the subject of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple are the two heads traditionally accepted as portraits of Gaddo Gaddi and Andrea Tafi; they cannot, at any rate, be portraits of those artists from the life. On the ceiling of the same chapel are the Eight Virtues. In the museum of Berlin is an altarpiece by Taddeo, the Virgin and Child and some other subjects, dated 1334; in the Naples Gallery, a triptych, dated 1336, of the Virgin enthroned along with Four Saints, the Baptism of Jesus, and his Deposition from the Cross; in the sacristy of S. Pietro a Megognano, near Poggibonsi, an altarpiece dated 1355, the Virgin and Child enthroned amid Angels. A series of paintings, partly from the life of S. Francis, which Taddeo executed for the presses in S. Croce, are now divided between the Florentine Academy and the Berlin Museum; the compositions are taken from or founded on Giotto, to whom, indeed, the Berlin authorities have ascribed their examples. Taddeo also paiuted some frescos still extant in Pisa, besides many in S. Croce and other Florentine buildings, which have perished. He deservedly ranks as one of the most eminent successors of Giotto; it may be said that he continued working up the material furnished by that great painter, with comparatively feeble inspiration of his own. His figures are vehement in action, long and slender in form; his execution rapid and somewhat conventional. To Taddeo are generally ascribed the celebrated frescos—those of the ceiling and left or western wall—in the Cappella degli Spagnuoli, in the church of S. Maria Novella, Florence; this is, however, open to considerable doubt, although it may perhaps be conceded that the designs for the ceiling were furnished by Taddeo. Dubious also are the three pictures ascribed to him in the London National Gallery. As a mosaist, he has left some work in the baptistery of Florence. As an architect, he supplied in 1336 the plans for the present Ponte Vecchio, and those for the original (not the present) Ponte S. Trinita; in 1337 he was engaged on the church of Orsan-Michele; and he carried on after Giotto’s death the work of the unrivalled Campanile.
3. Agnolo Gaddi, born in Florence, was the son of Taddeo; the date of his birth has been given as 1326, but possibly 1350 is nearer the mark. He was a painter and mosaist, trained by his father, and a merchant as well; in middle age he settled down to commercial life in Venice, and he added greatly to the family wealth. He died in October 1396. His paintings show much early promise, hardly sustained as he advanced in life. One of . the earliest, at S. Jacopo tra’ Fossi, Florence, represents the Resurrection of Lazarus. Another probably youthful performance is the series of frescos of the Pi eve di Prato— legends of the Virgin and of her Sacred Girdle, bestowed upon St Thomas, and brought to Prato in the 11th century by Michele dei Dagomari; the Marriage of Mary is one of the best of this series, the later compositions in which have suffered much by renewals. In S. Croce he painted, in eight frescos, the legend of the Cross, beginning with the Archangel Michael giving Seth a branch from the tree of knowledge, and ending with the Emperor Heraclius carrying the Cross as he enters Jerusalem; in this picture is a portrait of the painter himself. Agnolo composed his subjects better than Taddeo; he had more dignity and individuality in the figures, and was a clear and bold colourist; the general effect is laudably decorative, but the drawing is poor, and the works show best from a distance. Various other productions of this master exist, and many have perished. Cennino Cennini, the author of the celebrated treatise on painting, was one of his pupils.
4. Giovanni Gaddi, brother of Agnolo, was also a painter of promise. He died young. (w. μ. e.)
GADIATCH, a town of Russia, at the head of a district in the government of Poltava, situated on the elevated banks of the Grun and the Psel, 73 miles N.N.W. of Poltava, in 50° 22' N. lat. and 34° 0' E. long. It is a plain wood-built town, with four Greek churches and two synagogues, deriving its main importance from its four annual fairs, one of which, lasting for three weeks, was, up to 1857, held at the Hermitage of the Transfiguration (Sheet Preobrazhenski). In 1860 the population was 7263, 1213 of the number being Jews. According to W. Struve’s Calendar for 1878, it was 8425. Gadiatch was the place where the assembly was convoked by the hetman Vigofski in 1658, for the publication of the treaty contracted between the Ukrainians and the Poles. During the hetmanate it had fortifications of which traces are still extant, rauked as a garrison town, and was the residence of the hetman. At first it was included in the military district of Luben, but after 1650 in the district to which it gave its name. Along with 13 large villages it was bestowed by the empress Elizabeth on Count Razumofski, but it was afterwards purchased from him by the empress Catharine II. In 1771 the town and district were incorporated with the province of Kieff, and in 1802 they obtained their present position in the government of Pultowa.
