GADD, Chronicle of. — So named after its first decipherer and editor, a cuneiform tablet preserved in the British Museum (no. 2100) in London.
Both the form of the characters and the content indicate that it was written in Babylon; from its concluding reference it appears that it formed part of a historical collection, or rather, a chronicle of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The published text covers the years 616–609 B.C., extending from the 10th to the 17th year of King Nabopolassar. The Chronicle of G. has shed unexpected light on a turbulent historical period rich in important events. From it we learn of Babylonian policy, its alliances, and especially the end of the rival empire of Nineveh. One of the most notable achievements has been the precise fixing of the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C., whereas it was usually placed in 606. Thus it has been possible to ascertain that the end of the city did not coincide with that of the empire, since Ashur-uballit transferred his precarious residence to Haran.
In relation to the Bible, the study of the Chronicle of G. has shed a rather different light on certain texts of Nahum, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah: it has cast considerable doubt on a battle of Carchemish in 605 (= fourth year of Jehoiakim) between Egypt and Babylon (cf. Jer. 46:1–3), while it has offered a completely new interpretation of the battle of Megiddo (609), in which the reforming king Josiah was mortally wounded. The latter was not seeking to protect the tottering Assyria as his vassal, but rather to prevent Pharaoh Necho II from bringing aid to Ashur-uballit, with whom he had become allied.
Studies in relation to the Bible: P. Dhorme, *La fin de l’Empire assyrien d’après un nouveau document*, in *Revue biblique*, 13 (1924), pp. 3–34; A. Alfinkel, *Die Gadd’sche Chronik und die Heilige Schrift*, in *Biblica*, 8 (1927), pp. 383–417; L. Hennequin, *La chute de Ninive en 612 av. J. C.*, in *Revue cælèristique de Jérusalem*, 1927, pp. 170–183, 201–212, 280–294; E. Florit, *Répercussions immédiates de la chute de Ninive dans la Palestine*, in *Biblica*, 13 (1932), pp. 309–417; id., *Sofonia, Geremia e la Cronaca di G.*, ibid., 13 (1932), pp. 3–31.