GADD, Chronicle of. - A cuneiform tablet preserved in the British Museum (no. 21901) in London is so called from the name of its first decipherer and editor.

Both from the form of the characters and from the content it appears that it was written in Babylon; from its final reference it appears that it formed part of a historical collection, or rather, of 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 saturated with important events. From it one learns of Babylonian policy, its alliances and especially the end of the rival Empire of Nineveh. One of the most notable advantages has been the exact fixing of the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C., whereas it was usually placed in 606. Thus it has been possible to establish that the end of the city did not coincide with that of the Empire, since Assur-uballit transferred his precarious residence to Haran.

In relation to the Bible, the study of the chronicle of G. has placed certain texts of Nahum, Jeremiah and Zephaniah in a rather different light: it has made very doubtful a battle of Carchemish in 605 (= fourth year of Jehoiakim) between Egypt and Babylonia (cf.

Jer. 46, 1-3), while it has offered a completely new interpretation of the battle of Megiddo (609), where the reforming king Josiah was struck dead. He did not intend to protect the tottering Assyria as his vassal, but rather to prevent the pharaoh Necho II from bringing his aid to Assur-uballit, of whom he had become an ally.

Bibliography7 works

BIBL.: C. J. Gadd, The fall of Ninive, London 1923 (edition, translation and commentary of the text); German version in H. Grossmann, Altorientalische Texte zum alten Testament, 2nd ed., Leipzig 1926, pp. 362-65; Latin version in A. Pohl, Historia populi Israel inde a divisione regni inque ad exilium, Rome 1933, pp. 34-37. Studies in relation to the Bible: P. Dhorm, La fin de l'Empire surprise d'après un nouveau document, in Revue biblique, 33 (1924), pp. 218-34; M. Alfrink, 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 ecclésiastique de Metz, 1927, pp. 170-83, 201-12, 280-34; E. Florit, Riferentazioni immediate della caduta di Ninive sulla Palestina, in Biblica, 13 (1932), pp. 309-417; id., Sofonia, Geremia e la Cronaca di G., ibid., 13 (1934), pp. 8-31.

Angelo Penna

@incollection{ec5_gadd_cronaca_di, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Gadd, cronaca di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {1841--1842}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/gadd-cronaca-di} }

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Gadd, Chronicle of

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