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Gabinius, Aulus(d. 47 B.C.E.) Roman political ally of
Pompey the Great
His loyalty to POMPEYthe Great made Aulus Gabinus a
political enemy of Julius CAESAR. While a tribune in 67
B.C.E., Gabinus gave Pompey unlimited command of the
Roman forces handling the pirates marauding the
Mediterranean at the time. He served as Pompey’s repre-
sentative in Egypt from 66 to 63 B.C.E. during the trou-
bled reign of PTOLEMY XII NEOS DIONYSIUS(Auletes) (r.
80–58, 55–51 B.C.E.) and was governor of Syria 57–54
B.C.E. Aulus Gabinus died in Illyricum (the modern Adri-
atic area).

Gallus, Gaius Cornelius(d. 26 B.C.E.)First Roman
prefect of Egypt after the Roman occupation of the Nile
Valley
He was appointed after the suicide of CLEOPATRA VII(30
B.C.E.). An ally of Octavian, the future emperor AUGUS-
TUS, Gallus was renowned in Rome as a poet. He modeled
his verse forms on the Alexandrian love poems popular at
the time. He was also a friend of Catullus and Virgil. A
manuscript in Gallus’s own hand was discovered in
Primio (modern Qasr Ibrim), dating to c. 30 B.C.E. Gallus
also inscribed his own name on a pyramid at GIZA. When
he lost Augustus’s trust and friendship in 26 B.C.E.he
committed suicide.

Games See BOARD GAMES.

Garf Hussein This was a site south of the first cataract
ofthe Nile that was dedicated to the MEMPHISgod PTAH.
Located near WADI ALAKI, Garf Hussein had a temple ded-
icated to Ptah, erected by RAMESSES II (r. 1290–1224

B.C.E.) of the Nineteenth Dynasty. This shrine was built

into a rocky cliff. A PYLONled to a court area, where three

porticos were highly decorated. A subterranean level of

the TEMPLEcontained a pillared hall and five sanctuaries

in the form of crosses.

Gaugamela A battle site in 331 B.C.E., where ALEXAN-

DER III THE GREAT(r. 332–323 B.C.E.) defeated DARIUS III

CODOMAN(335–332 B.C.E.) of Persia, ending the Persian

hopes of restoring the empire, Gaugamela was near

Arbela in Babylonia (modern Iraq), and there the Persian

armies lost to the Greek and Macedonian hosts. Darius

escaped to Hyrcania, but he was slain by a subordinate.

Geb An Egyptian deity worshiped throughout the

nation as the father of OSIRISand the representation of the

earth, he was the brother-husband of the goddess NUT,

the sky, fashioned by the creator ATUM, and the son of SHU

and TEFNUT. Geb was also called “the Great Cackler,” a

reference to the cosmic egg that contained the sun, the

symbol of creation. In some temple reliefs, Geb was

depicted as a man with a GOOSEon his head.

When Atum discovered that Geb and Nut had

become lovers, he commanded the god Shu to separate

them by raising Nut into the heavens as the sky. Geb was

inconsolable, and as he wept over his loss his tears

formed the oceans and seas on the earth. In reliefs he was

shown in a prone position, weeping for Nut, and in his

physical form representing earth’s mountains and valleys.

Geb was a member of the ENNEADof HELIOPOLISand the

father of Osiris, ISIS,SET, and NEPHTHYS, given birth by

Nut on the EPAGOMENAL DAYSof the calendar year along

with Horus. He gave Lower Egypt to Osiris and Upper