Cooper’s new edition of Enki and the World Order appeared after I submitted the proofs. He now reconstructs and translates line 274 (cited in the commentary on i 3′–5′) as follows: [s]ug ambar-ra gu₃ ba-an-de₂ suḫur-ḪI^ku₆ suḫur^ku₆ ba-an-šum₂ “He summoned swamp and marsh, bestowed on them the ḪI-carp and carp.”

Cooper, J. S. 2025. Enki and the World Order: A Sumerian Myth. SANER 31. Berlin: De Gruyter.

Unfortunately, I remembered too late that the first millennium BCE version of Nergal and Ereškigal preserves Ea’s instructions to Nergal not to eat and drink in the netherworld (iii 41′–43′ in the Sultantepe tablet). In view of the taboo cited in section 4.5, one possible connection between Fox and Erra (a.k.a Nergal in the above-mentioned myth) is that they both enter and exit the netherworld (if that is indeed what Fox does in Ni 12501).

Gurney, O. R. 1960. “The Sultantepe Tablets (Continued): VII. The Myth of Nergal and Ereshkigal.” Anatolian Studies 10: 105–131.

Finally, Susanne Paulus pointed out to me that on kudurru’s, Enlil is occasionally represented not by his customary horned crown but as a canid that has been variously interpreted as fox (Unger 1957–1971: 119) or jackal (Seidel 1989: 143–144). See also Paulus (2014: 332 ad IV3–4).

Paulus, S. 2014. Die babylonischen Kudurru-Inschriften von der kassitischen bis zur frühneubabylonischen Zeit: Untersucht unter besonderer Berücksichtigung gesellschafts-und rechtshistorischer Fragestellungen. AOAT 51. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.

Seidel, U. 1989. Die babylonischen Kudurru-Reliefs: Symbole mesopotamischer Gottheiten. OBO 87. Freiburg: Universitätsverlag.

Unger, E. 1957–1971. “Fuchs als Symbol.” RlA 3, p. 119.

In paragraph 2 of section 4.5, a word and a bracket went missing: The proverb should read “Fox li[es] (even to)^? Enlil.”