GASHXII (gash'mu), (Heb. gash-maa'), given as a variation of GESHEM by the lexicons (Neh. vi:6).
GATABI(ga'tam),(Heb. 1..;1,gah-tawm', puny), grandson of Esau and fourth son of Eliphaz (Gen. xxxvi:t I; Chron. i:36), and a "duke" of Eliphaz (Gen. xxxvi:t6), B. C. after r74o.
GATE (gat), (Heb.1V.P, shah'ar), the entrance to enclosed grounds, buildings, dwelling houses, towns, etc.
1. Various Names. Thus we find mentioned: (1) Cities. Gates of cities, as of Jerusalem. its sheep-gate, fish-gate, etc. (Jer. xxxvii:r3 ; Neh.
i :3; :3) ; of Sodom (Gen. xix :I) ; of Gaza (Judg. xvi :3).
(2) Palaces and Temples. Gates of royal pal aces (Neh. :8). Gates of the Temple. The temple of Ezekiel had two gates, one towards thc north, the other towards the east ; the latter closed (Ezek. xliv :1, 2), the other must have been open.
(3) Tombs and Prisons. Gates of tombs (Matt. xxvii :6o). Gates of prisons. In Acts xii : zo, mention is made of the iron-gate of Peter's prison (xvi :27). Prudentius (Hymn. v. 346) speaks of gatekeepers of prisons.
(4) Caverns and Camps. Gates of caverns (I Kings xix :t3). Gates of canzps (Exod. xxxii : 26, 27 ; see Heb. xiii :t2). The camps of the Romans had generally four gates. The camp of the Trojans is also described as having had gates (Virgil, rEn. ix .724)• 2. Material. We do not know of what mate rials the enclosures and gatcs of the temporary camps of the Hebrews were formed. In Egyptian monuments such enclosures are indicated by lines of upright shields, with gates apparently of wicker, defended by a strong guard. As the gates of towns served the ancients as places of security (see FORTIFICATIONS, etC.), durable material was re quired for them, and accordingly we find men tioned : (1) Iron and Brass. Gates of iron and brass (Ps. cvii :16 ; Is. xlv :2; Acts xii :to). It is prob able that gates thus described were, in fact, only sheeted with plates of copper or iron (Faber, Archcrol. p. 297); and it is probably in this sense we are to interpret the hundred brazen gates ascribed to the ancient Babylon. Thevenot (Voy
age, p.283) describes the six gates of Jerusalem as covered with iron : which is probably still the case with the four gates now open. Other iron covered gates are mentioned by travelers, such as some of the town gates of Algiers (Pitt's Let ter, viii. p. to), and of the towers of the so-called iron bridge at Antioch (Pococke, vol. ii. pt. t. p. 172). The principal gates of the great mosque at Damascus are covered with brass (Maundrell, p. 126). Gates of iron are also mentioned by Hesiod (Theog. 732), by Virgil ("En. i. 482; vii :6o9),and by Ovid (Metam. vii:126).
(2) Stones and Pearls. Gates of stone, and of pearls, are mentioned in Is. liv :12, and Rev. xxi:z2, which, it has justly been supposed, refer to such doors, cut out of a single slab, as are oc casionally discovered in ancient countries. At Essouan (Syene), in Upper Egypt, there is a granite gateway bearing the name of Alexander, the son of Alexander the Great (Wilkinson, iii. 403). The doors leading to the several cham bers of one so-called 'Tombs of the Kings' near Jerusalem, were each formed of a single stone seven inches thick, sculptured so as to resemble four panels : the styles, muntins, and other parts were cut with great art, and exactly resembled those of a door made by a carpenter at the pres ent day—the whole being completely smooth and polished, and most accurate in their proportions. The doors turned on pivots, of the same stone of which the rest of them were composed, which were inserted in corresponding sockets above and below, the lower tenon being of course short. (See Giant Cities of Bashan.) (3) Wood. Gates of wood. Of this kind were probably the gates of Gaza (Judg. xvi :3). They had generally two valves, which, according to Fa ber's description (Archcrol. p. 3oo), had some times smaller doors, or wickets, to afford a pas sage when the principal gate was closed—a fact which he applies to the illustration of Matt. vii :13.