Iconography of Deities and Demons: Electronic Pre-Publication 1/2 Last Revision: 6 May 2010

IDD website: http://www.religionswissenschaft.unizh.ch/idd

Gad

I . Introduction. Semitic goddess, epi-thet, →DDD. G. is the name of an old Se-mitic goddess or an epithet in the sense of “good fortune” (for a summary on the dif-fering views see CHRISTOF 2001: 109–115). The term gd is attested as early as the 19th cent. as part of the name of Yaggid–Lim, the Amorite founder of the Lim dynasty at Mari (DOSSIN 1950: 3, 9ff). AHLSTRÖM (1983) has suggested the first possible use as a divine name as occurring in an inscrip-tion on a rim fragment of a pottery bowl from Lachish Level VI (1200–1150). Through the Phoenician colonization the term G. traveled to the Western Punic world; we thus find it in an inscription from Sardinia (Capo di Pula, Nora) dating to the end of the 4th cent./early 3rd cent. where it is mentioned together with Tanit (tnt pn b˓l wgd, “Tanit Face–of–Baal and G.”; AMA-DASI 1967: Sardegna 25, 104). Later an early 2nd cent. dedication from Ibiza uses the formula: tnt ˒dr whgd “Mighty Tanit and the Fortune” (KAI no. 72). G. was particu-larly equated with Greek Tyche, which is epigraphically attested by a bilingual in-scription from Palmyra dating to 140 CE (CIS II, 3927).

II . Iconography. At the present time we can identify G. only through the mural crown, which later becomes one of Tyche’s attributes. The mural crown is of eastern origin; the oldest examples in Mesopotamia date to the late third mill. It particularly flourished in the Neo–Assyrian and Achaemenid periods (METZLER 1994: 77–85; HÖRIG 1979: 182–197). The oldest iconographic evidence of a deity with a mural crown in the West Semitic region, probably of Persian influence, is shown on a late 5th/4th cent. amethyst scarab from the necropolis of Sidon: a goddess, most proba-bly of the →Astarte type performing as G.–Tyche (1*), seated on a sphinx throne is facing a female worshipper. Other examples of a mural-crowned goddess stem from Cyprus: a marble female head, probably from Idalion, dating to the second quarter of the 4th cent. (2*); several limestone and terracotta statuettes from other Cypriot sites dating to the second half of the 4th cent. (BEER 2003: 373); and a female portrait shown on the obverse of a silver didrachm of Euagoras II of Salamis (361–351) (3*). This type prevailed for some time, passing in the mid–3rd cent. under Seleucid domina-tion to the Phoenician coast, and is inter-preted as a possible representation of Aph-rodite–Astarte (CHRISTOF 2001: 56–58). Indications that this iconographic scheme

was used in Phoenicia is also suggested by echoes from the Carthaginian sphere of influence. In connection with the Sardinian inscription mentioned above, the thymiateria from Tharros (4) shaped as a female head with mural crown can possibly be interpreted as a representation of Tanit G. Later important examples dating to the 2nd cent. come from Ibiza (MARÍN CEBAL-LOS 2007: 109–119; FERNÁNDEZ et al. 2007).

III . Conclusion. The iconography confirms the conclusions drawn from the study of written sources: the term G. basi-cally refers to the role of a deity as a protec-tor or benefactor of individuals, tribes, vil-lages, or towns (DDD 340), therefore func-tioning as an epithet. The only iconographic trace which points to G. as specific deity is the mural crown. It is of eastern origin, and eventually turned into one of Tyche’s at-tributes. Pre–Hellenistic testimonies are scarce, but are nevertheless significant fore-runners, especially of numismatic represen-tations in the Hellenistic and Roman periods (PROTTUNG 1995; CHRISTOF 2001). IV. Catalogue 1* Scarab, amethyst, 34 x 27 mm, c. 420–300, Sidon. GUBEL 1987: no. 11; BOARDMAN 2003: 20/X2. Beirut, National Museum of Beirut, 16157 2* Head, marble, 54 x 19.5 cm, Idalion, 375–350. Graz, Antiquities Museum of Schloss Eggenberg. BEER 2003: fig. 1c 3* Coin (didrachm), 6.8 g, silver, 361–351 (Euagoras II), Salamis. London, British Museum, Coins & Medals RPK,p111B.1. HILL 1904: pl. 12:4 4 Thymiaterion, terracotta, Tharros, 400-200. MOSCATI 1988: pl. 10:38

Maria Cruz Marin Ceballos

Iconography of Deities and Demons: Electronic Pre-Publication 2/2 Last Revision: 6 May 2010

IDD website: http://www.religionswissenschaft.unizh.ch/idd

Bibliography AHLSTRÖM G.W., 1983, Was Gad the God of Tell ed–Duweir?: PEQ 115, 47f. BEER C., 2003, A Head of a Marble Tyche from Idalion, in: Hommage à Margerite Yon: Actes du colloque international “Le temps

des royaumes de Chypre, XIII°–IV° s. av. J.C.”, Lyon, 20–22 juin 2002 (Cahier du Centre d’Études Chypriotes 32), Paris, 369–385.

BOARDMAN J., 2003, Classical Phoenician Scarabs. A catalogue and Study, Oxford. DOSSIN G., 1950, Correspondance de Šamši–Addu et de ses fils (Archives royales de Mari 1), Paris. CHRISTOF E., 2001, Das Glück der Stadt. Die Tyche von Antiochia und andere Stadt Tychen, Frankfurt am Main. CIS = Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum, Paris, 1881–. DDD = VAN DER TOORN K./BECKING B./VAN DER HORST P.W., eds., 21999, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Bible, Lei-

den/Boston/Köln. FERNÁNDEZ J.H. et al., 2007, Pebeteros con representación leontocéfala de la calle Aragón, 33 (Eivissa), in: MARÍN CEBALLOS

M.C./HORN F., eds., Imagen y culto en la Iberia prerromana: los pebeteros en forma de cabeza femenina (Spal Monografías IX), Sevilla, 85–107.

GUBEL E., 1987, Phoenician Furniture (Studia Phoenicia VII), Leuven. HILL G.F., 1904, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Cyprus, London. KAI = DONNER H./RÖLLIG W., 1966–1969, Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften, 3 vols., Wiesbaden. MARÍN CEBALLOS M.C., 2007, Pebeteros con corona mural, in: MARÍN CEBALLOS M.C./HORN F., eds., Imagen y culto en la Iberia

prerromana: los pebeteros en forma de cabeza femenina (Spal Monografías IX), Sevilla, 109–119. METZLER D., 1994, Mural Crowns in the Ancient Near East and Greece, in: S.B. MATHESON, ed., An Obsession with Fortune. Tyche

in Greek and Roman Art, New Haven, 76–85. MOSCATI S., 1988, Testimonianze fenicio–puniche a Oristano. Cataloghi di Maria Luisa Uberti (Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei

Lincei. Classe di Scienze Morali. Memorie XXXI, anno 385), Roma. PROTTUNG P., 1995, Darstellungen der hellenistischen Stadttyche (Charybdis 9), Münster.