The Gadim

Today I want to talk about the gadim or 'gads'.  'Gad' is a word meaning 'Fortune', and there is a god called Gad (who I will discuss in another post).  I want to talk about the class of 'Fortunes', a whole group of deities. 

Tutelary deities had existed in the land of Canaan for many years, going back (if we are to believe Sakkun-yaton) to the founding of the first cities and kingdoms.  But during the Greek and Roman periods (in the times when Canaan- called 'Phoenicia' and 'Syria' by the Greeks and Romans- was under the domain of the Seleukid Empire and the Roman Empire), tutelary deities became even more important, influenced heavily by the religious cults practiced by Greek and Roman kings and governors.  The city in which we can see this happening the most is the city of Tadmor (Palmyra to the Romans).  Tadmor was an Aramaean city, also settled by Amorites.  It was a very old city, mentioned in texts from Mari.  During later time periods communities of Arabs also lived there. 

From inscriptions in Tadmor, we can learn that the cults of the Fortunes, the tutelary deities, played an important role in the daily life of the citizens.  Everything had its own Gad, which watched over it and protected it, granting it good fortune.  These deities or spirits could also be venerated alongside the city's local ginnaya (djinn in Arabia). 

There was a Gad for every individual, a Gad of the village (qiryah), a Gad of Tadmor, a Gad of the gardens, a Gad of Taimi, a Gad of the oil merchants (meshach), a Gad of Yedibel, a Gad of the olive tree, and so on.  A Gad may be either male or female, and indeed from what we know it does appear that Tadmor's own Gad was/is female. 

Gad-Qiryah (the Gad of the village) is a local god or spirit who watches over the surrounding villages and their people.  Two altar inscriptions mention her.  One of them reads: "Abdibel erected (it) in thanksgiving to the compassionate one, the good, and to the Gad of the village and the Gad of the gardens.  Year 550" (This would be about 238/239 A.D).  Near Tadmor is an altar inscription from Anak, which reads: "The altar which Maliku son of Marban erected to Yarkhibol, to the one who irrigates Araq, to the Gad of the locality, the bountiful god.  Year 520... In the month Nisan"  (This would be around spring-time in 209 A.D).  This inscription may be interpreted as suggesting that a major god can also be a Gad (in this case Yarkhibol as the god of Araq).

The Gad in some ways is similar to an angel, and is often shown as a winged being.  But the Gad is very distinct from the angel in that it is more a personification of Fortune and of the good fortune that the deities will provide for whatever is under their domain (the garden, village, city etc.).  An angel, on the other hand, is more like a spirit messenger for a deity.  A relief found in the temple of Nebo shows a seated goddess (probably Ashtart, Malidthu or Allat- who was worshiped by Arabs in the city), standing on a swimming youth (the spirit of the spring of Afak).  Behind her is an eagle carrying a twig of oak, and to her right is a dog.  To her side stands a small female figure, wearing a crown and holding a branch of olive.  She is probably the Gad of the city.


Giving thanks to a Gad can increase good fortune, and it is important to show reverance towards a Gad.  In times when your success or the success of the community, the harvest, battles, anything, seems to be largely down to good fortune and the gods being on your side, then give offerings to the Gad of that particular aspect.  A Gad can function as being a personification of a deity's blessings and favour.  They are also deities of victory.

The Gad of Tadmor, standing on the spring which watered Tadmor's oasis.  She can be identified as a Gad because she is wearing a mural crown common in Assyrian and Elamite art

Ghosts

Today I thought that I would talk about ghosts in Middle Eastern religions.  In the religions of the Canaanites, Egyptians, Hebrews, Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, and Arabs, the shades of the dead journey to the underworld below the earth (or in 'the west' in Egypt).  But cults of ancestor worship exist within the religions, and the parallels between them can be clearly seen. 

Ghosts are created at the time of death, but it is important to mention that often the word 'ghost' is specifically used to mean an offended spirit which returns from the underworld or else is not allowed into it.  There are many reasons why a ghost may wander the earth or be denied access into the underworld.  One is that they may have been unburied or without a proper funeral, that their tomb may have been disturbed, that they may have been an evildoer in life, that they may have died before their time, or that they may not have received offerings by their descendants.

Ghosts have a spirit form, meaning that they may appear or else make an invisible attack.  They may be able to pass through walls and doors with ease.  Ghosts may be responsible for attacks in the living, and they may go about this by different means.  One is by a haunting or apparition, in which a ghost may or may not attempt to actually cause harm.  Another is by cursing.  And yet another is by inflicting sickness, a different kind to that which is inflicted by gods and demons. 

Whilst in the underworld, Shapash has dealing with the shades of the dead, and may punish those responsible for returning as ghosts to harass the living.  While she is in the skies, ghosts do not appear on the earth as they dwell in darkness.

A necromancer is one who has contact with ghosts and may communicate with them by speaking in a high-pitched tone.  But necromancers are often viewed as ritually impure, as contact with ghosts causes impurity.  In Hebrew the word 'ob' is used to mean the ghost and the necromancer who communicates with them.  It may originally be a word to describe a kind of pit, well or cave (considered to be the entrance to the underworld).  In Hittite religion and Babylonian, a pit is dug in the ground by a necromancer, and an offering such as a wild boar or dog, or a model ear to represent the desire to hear, is lowered into the pit.  The ghost then ascends and shares its knowledge with those gathered.  This may also appear in Hebrew religion, and in Canaanite religion there is a connection between ghosts and wells, caves, or tombs underground.  Ghosts may also enter through the floor of a house.  Breaking a hole in the earth or digging a pit is a way to communicate with them, though as mentioned, contact with ghosts makes one impure and some can be dangerous or angry.

To exorcise ghosts, the goddess Shapash may be called upon.  Resheph and Choron as gods of the netherworld are also good to invoke in an exorcism ritual to ward off ghosts.