4. For the jAdnt gad, see Coriander.
Gadara (rd Va^ana in Josephus, prob. from ""13, a wall [sec Gederah] ; only'in N. T. in the Gentile rncopj/i^of), a strong city (Josephus, Ant. xiii, 13, 3), situated near the river Hieromax (Pliny, JI. J\'. v, IG),
east of the Sea of Galilee, over against Scythopolis and Tiberias (Eusebius, Onomrisficon, s. v.), and IG Roman miles distant from each of those places (/tin. Anton. ed. Wess. p. 19G, 198 ; Tub. Pent.), or CO stadia from the latter (Joseph. Life, § Go). It stood on the top of a hill, at the foot of which, upon the banks of the Hie- romax, three miles distant, were warm sprinj^s and baths called Amatha (Onom. s. v. ^tham and Gadara; Jtin. Ant. Martyr.). Josephus calls it the capital of Persea (War, iv, 3), and Polj'bius says it was one of the most strongly fortified cities in the country (v, 71, 3). A large district was attached to it, called by Jo- sephus Gadaritis (Vaijapln^, IFor, iii, 10, 10); Strabo also informs us that the warm healing springs were "in the territory of Gadara" (tv ry Vacapici, Geog. xvi). They were termed Thermte Helia;, and were reckoned inferior only to those of Baiaj (Easeb. Ono- must.'). According to Epiphanius (adv. Hdres. \, 131), a yearly festival was held at these baths (P.eland, p. 775). The caverns in the rocks are also mentioned by Epiphanius (I. c.) in terms which seem to show that they were in his day used for dwellings as well as for tombs. Gadara itself is not mentioned in the Bible, but it is evidently identical with the "countrj- of the Gadarenes" (\yipa or -Ktoixixipoc, ruiv ra(;«p>;2^wi',Mark V, 1 ; Luke viii, 26, 37).
Gadara seems to have been founded and chiefly in- habited by Gentiles, for Josephus says of it. in conjunc- tion with Gaza and Hippos, "they were Grecian cit- ies" (Ant. xvii, 11,4). The first historical notice of Gadara is its capture, along with Pella and other cit- ies, by Antiochus the Great, in the j'ear B.C. 218 (Jo- seph. A7it. xii, 3, 3). About twentj' years afterwards it was taken from the Syrians by Alex. Janna;us, after a siege of ten months (Ant. xiii, 13, 3; War, i, 4, 2). The Jews retained possession of it for some time ; but the place having been dcstro3-ed during their civil wars, it was rebuilt bj' Pompev to gratify his freedman Demetrius, who was a Gadarene ( II or, i, 7, 7). When Gabinius, the proconsul of Syria, changed the govern- ment of Jndasa bj' dividing the country into five dis- tricts, and placing each under the authority of a coun- cil, Gadara was made the capital of one of these dis- tricts (War, 1, 8, 5). The territory of Gadara, with the adjoining one of Hippos, was added \>y Augustus to the kingdom of Herod the Great (.1?;^. xv, 7, 3); from which, on the death of the latter, it was sundered, and joined to the province of Sj'ria (.(oseph. War, ii, 6, ."). According to the present text of the Jewish his- torian, Gadara was captured b_y Vespasian on the first outbreak of the war with the Jews, all its inhabitants massacred, and the town itself, with the surrounding villages, reduced to ashes (Joseph. War, iii, 7, 1); but there is good reason to believe (sec Robinson, Loafer Bib. Pes. p. 87, note) that the place there referred to is Gabara (q. v.). However that maj' have been, Ga- dara was at this time one of the most important cities cast of the Jordan (Joseph. Il'o?-, iv, 8, 3). Stephen of Byzantium (p. 254) reckoned it a part of Coele-Syria, and Pliny (f/ist. Xaf. v, IG) a part of the Decajiolis (comp. William of Tyre, xvii, 13). At a later period it was the seat of an episcopal see in Palsestiua Secun- da, whose bishops are named in the councils of Nice and Ephesus (lieland, Palwst. p. 17G, 215, 223, 22G). It is also mentioned in the Talmud (Reland, p. 775; liittei; Erdh.KVU, 318). For coins, see Eckhel (Doctr. Num. iii, 348). It fell to ru- ins soon after the ^lo- hammedan concpiest, and has now been de- serted for centuries,
Coin ofCrudara.
GADARA
Tor
GADSDEN
•with the exception of a few families of shepherd?, who occasionally find a home in its rock-hewn tomb?.
Jlost modern authorities (Uauuier, in his Paliistina, Burckhardt, Seetzen) lind Gadara in the present vil- lage of Um-ki-is. Uucldngliam, Uftwever, ideiitilies this with Gamala {Irav. in Palest, ii, 252 sq.) ; tliough it may be added that liis facts, if not his reasonings, lead to a conclusion in favor of the general opinion. On a partially isolated hill at the north-western ex- treniitj' of the mountains of Gilead, about sixteen miles from Tiberias, lie the extensive and remarkable ruins of Uin-Keis. Three miles northward, at tlie foot of the hill, is tlie deep bed of the Sheriat el ^Mandhiir, tlie ancient Hieromax ; and here are still the \varni springs of Amatha (see Irl)y and Mangles, p. 2'J8 ; Lindsay, ii, 07,. 98). On the west is the Jordan vallej' ; and on the south is wady el 'Arab, running parallel to the Mand- hur. Um-Keis occupies the crest of the ridge between tlie two latter wadj's ; and as this crest declines in ele- vation towards the east as well as the west, the situa- tion is strong and commanding. The city formed nearly a square. The upper part of it stood on a level spot, and appears to have been walled all round, the acclivities of the hill being on all sides exceedingly steep. The eastern gate of entrance has its portals still remaining. The prevalent orders of architecture are the Ionic and the Corinthian. The whole space occupied In- the ruins is about two miles in circumfer- ence, and there are traces of fortifications all round, though now almost completely prostrate. These ruins hear testimony to tiie splendor of ancient Gadara. On the northern side of the hill is a theatre, and not far from it are the remains of one of the city gates. At the latter a street commences — the via recta of Gadara — whicli ran through the city in a straiglit line, having a colonnade on each side. The columns are all pros- trate. On the west side of the hill is another larger theatre in better preservation. The principal part of the city lay to the west of these two theatres, on a level piece of ground. Now not a house, not a column, not a wall remains standing; yet the old pavemant of the main street is nearlj' perfect, and havi and there tlie traces of the chariot-wheels are visible on the stones, reminding one of the thoroughfires of Pompeii. Backin!j;ham speaks of several grottoes, which formed the necropolis of the city, on the eastern brow of tlie hill. The first two examined by him were plain cham- bers hewn down so as to present a perpendicular front. The third tomb had a stoi>e door, as perfect as on the daj' of its being first hung. The last was an excavated chamber, seven feet in hejght, twelve paces long, and ten broad ; within it was a smaller room. Other tombs were discovered iiy Buckingham as he ascended the hill. He entered one in which were ten sepulchres, ranged along the inner wall of the chamber in a line, heing pierced inward for their greatest length, and di- vided by a thin p;irtition left in the rock, in each of which was cut a small niche for a lamp. Still more tombs were found, some containing sarcophagi, some wit!iout them; all, however, displaying more or less of architectural ornament. One of the ancient tombs was, when our traveller saw it, used as a carpenter's shop, the occupier of it being employed in constructing a rude plough. A perfect sarcophagus remained with- in, which was used by the famil}' as a provision-chest. See Burckhardt, Sipia, p. 270 sq. ; Porter, in Journal of Sac. Lit. vi, 2^*1 sq. ; ITackett, lllustr. of Script, p. I'JO; Traill's Josephus, i, 145.