Erra

The Wagon in Mesopotamian uranography identifies with the seven brightest stars in Ursa Major (drawing by Jessica Gullberg). The Fox and the Ewe are reported in MUL.APIN next to the Wagon constellation but their identification is uncertain: The names could refer to single stars or small asterisms in the areas indicated here: just to not limit the image to a single dot, we sketched them as (arbitrary) stickfigures in Stellarium.

^dErra is an Akkadian name for the King of the Underworld, more commonly known as Nergal, and associated with ^mulKA₅.A (the Fox, an asterism in Ursa Major). Erra is already in use as a name for an Akkadian asterisms in the Old Babylonian Prayers to the Gods of the Night, but there cannot be positively identified with 'The Fox'-asterism as is explicit in MUL.APIN.

Dictionary

Hoffmann and Krebernik (2023)

Reading the first list of MUL.APIN as an explanatory list:

			explanandum	explanans
counting	line number	DIŠ	asterism	deity
16	I i 15	1	mulMAR.GÍD.DA	dNin-líl
17	I i 16,17	1	MUL šá KI za-ri-i šá mulMAR.GÍD.DA GUB-zu | mulKA5.A	dÈr-ra gaš-ri D.meš
translation
16	I i 15	1	STAREREQQU(Wagon)	GODNinlil
17	I i 16,17	1	asterism by the pole of STAREREQQU : STARŠĒLEBU(Fox)	GODErra, the  strong of the gods

Akk. name of Nergal, the ruler of the netherworld. ^dÈr-ra (EN 17r).

Kurtik with Hilder, Hoffmann, Horowitz, Kim

= ^dIr₃-ra "Erra, Irra"; deity of war and plague, one of the names of Nergal [Roberts 1972, 21-29; Tallqvist 1938, 329];

• 1) a group of stars in the constellation of the Great Bear,
• 2) Mars.

Sources	Identifications
"Prayers to the Gods of the Night." Old Babylonian prayer: a) Erm. 15642: qu2-ra-du-um dEr3-ra "Heroic Err." [Horowitz 2000, 196-197:16], and also [Shileiko 1924, 147; Dossin 1935, 180; von Soden 1936, 306], b) AO 6769: qu2-ra-du Ir-ra [Dossin 1935, 181-182:16; Horowitz 1996, 60], c) CBS 574: ˹qu3-ra˺-[d]u [I]r3-ra [Horowitz-Wasserman 1996, 58:13].
MUL.APIN. The stars of Enlil (no. 16, 17): DIŠ MUL ša ina KI zar-ri-ri ša mulMAR.GÍD.DA GUB-zu The asterism which stands in the shaft of the Wagon. mulKA5.A dEr3-ra gaš-ri DINGIRmeš "Fox, Erra, strong among the gods" (I i 17) [MA, 23].	Wagon, Fox and Ewe in Stellarium.
"Ishum and Erra." a) See (Kurtik k06) KA5.A, b) kak-kab dEr3-ra um-mu-lu ša-ru-ri i-na-aš2-ši "Erra's star sparkles and emits radiance." [Al-Rawi-Black 1989, 118:10′]. See also [Kurtik 2019, note 34].

Additional

         II. Identification.

         As a constellation:

         See k06 KA₅.A.

         As planet Mars, see below.

         III. Astrology.

         (1) Pleiades and Erra (= Mars?);

• UL.UL ni-iḫ-su-ma UD.DA-su-nu NU GAL₂ ^dIr₃-ra ZI-ma UN.MEŠ ul u₂-[šam-qat]
• "If the Stars (stand) aside and have no light: Erra will rise, but will not kill men" [BPO 2, XV 29 + Parallels].

Historical Dictionaries

Kurtik (2022, e20)

Gössmann (1950)

= dIr3-ra «Эрра, Ирра»; божество войны и чумы, одно из имен Нергала [Roberts 1972, 21–29; Tallqvist 1938, 329]; 1) группа звезд в созвездии Большой Медведицы, 2) Марс(?). I. Источники. «Молитвы ночным богам». Старовавилонская молитва: a) Erm. 15642: qu2-ra-du-um dEr3-ra «Героический Эрра» [Horowitz 2000, 196–197:16], а также [Шилейко 1924, 147; Dossin 1935, 180; von Soden 1936, 306], b) AO 6769: qu2-ra-du Ir-ra [Dossin 1935, 181–182:16; Horowitz 1996, 60], c) CBS 574: ˹qu3-ra˺-[d]u [I]r3-ra [Horowitz–Wasserman 1996, 58:13]. MUL.APIN. Звезды Энлиля (№ 16): mulKA5.A dEr3-ra gaš-ri DINGIRmeš «Лиса, Эрра, сильный среди богов» (I i 17) [MA, 23]. «Ишум и Эрра». a) См. k06KA5.A, b) kak-kab dEr3-ra um-mu-lu ša-ru-ri i-na-aš2-ši «Звезда Эрры сверкает и испускает сияние» [Al-Rawi–Black 1989, 118:10′]. См. также [Kurtik 2019, note 34]. II. Отождествление. Как созвездие: См. k06KA5.A. Как планета Марс, см. ниже. III. Астрология. (1) Плеяды и Эрра (= Марс?); UL.UL ni-iḫ-su-ma UD.DA-su-nu NU GAL2 dIr3-ra ZI-ma UN.MEŠ ul u2-[šam-qat] «Если Звезды (стоят) в стороне и не имеют света: Эрра взойдет, но не будет убивать людей» [BPO 2, XV 29 + Parallels].

Example

References

• Kurtik's references