An old Sumerian myth that had been forgotten for centuries has resurfaced once again, according to a study published by Dr. Jana Matuszak in the journal Iraq. The tablet upon which the myth is inscribed is Ni 12501 and dates back to around 2400 BCE, during the Early Dynastic IIIb period. It was discovered in Nippur in the 19th century. While incomplete, the text is remarkable in featuring a narrative with the Sumerian storm god Iškur, better known for his role in bringing rain, who is captured and taken to the netherworld or Kur. His fate, as offered here, becomes the object of a divine rescue mission, led not by a powerful god but by the cunning figure of the Fox.

ᴀssyrian soldiers carrying a statue of Adad (Iškur in Sumerian). Credit: Drawn by Henri Faucher-Gudin after Austen Henry Layard

While the tablet had also been visible on the dust jacket of Samuel Noah Kramer’s 1956 book From the Tablets of Sumer, its museum number was omitted and wasn’t revealed for five years. Because it was incomplete and because of its popular presentation, a full scholarly edition had to wait many years. Dr. Matuszak’s new analysis is the first full publication and translation of this extraordinary text.

The myth begins with Iškur in a fertile landscape, surrounded by rivers full of fish and multicolored cattle herds. This idyllic setting is shattered when he and his herd are captured by the Kur. For revenge, Enlil—his father and one of the major gods of the Sumerian pantheon—calls the divine ᴀssembly and requests that the gods, the Anunnaki, retrieve his son. Only the Fox steps forward.

The Fox enters the netherworld and cleverly receives food and drink offered to him but hides them away rather than consuming them, a trick which allows him to journey through the dangerous realm. Unfortunately, the tale breaks off here, so it’s unknown whether or not he succeeds.

The tablet is visible in Samuel Noah Kramer’s 1956 book From the Tablets of Sumer

According to the study, while motifs of divine helplessness and the trickster-hero do appear elsewhere in Sumerian myth, attention given to Iškur as such a focus is new.

Kramer previously observed that the Fox is comparable to one in Enki and Ninḫursaŋa, a second-millennium BCE myth. Szilvia Sövegjártó went on to develop this observation in her own study on the fox motif in Sumerian literature. Although no subsequent copies of Ni 12501 survive, the story’s themes are seen recurring in Mesopotamian texts in the following centuries.

While it’s difficult to trace how myths of this type circulated or evolved in ancient Mesopotamia, Ni 12501 is a significant work of literary history. Its motifs—lost and regained abundance, unlikely heroes, divine rescue—are resonant with greater issues of the ancient world regarding cycles of nature and human life.

More information: Matuszak, J. (2024). Of captive storm gods and cunning foxes: New insights into early Sumerian mythology, with an edition of Ni 12501. Iraq, 86, 79–108. doi:10.1017/irq.2024.19