Editing Nergal (section)

===Erra===
{{main|Erra (god)}}
From the [[Old Babylonian period]] onward the name [[Erra (god)|Erra]], derived from the [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] [[Root (linguistics)|root]] {{smallcaps|ḥrr}}, and thus etymologically related to the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] verb ''erēru'', "to scorch", could be applied to Nergal, though it originally referred to a distinct god.{{sfn|Wiggermann|1998|p=217}} The two of them started to be associated in the Old Babylonian period, were equated in the [[Weidner god list|Weidner]] and ''An = Anum'' god lists, and appear to be synonyms of each other in literary texts (including the ''[[Epic of Erra]]'' and ''Nergal and [[Ereshkigal]]''), where both names can occur side by side as designations of the same figure.{{sfn|Wiggermann|1998|p=217}} However, while in other similar cases ([[Inanna]] and Ishtar, [[Enki]] and Ea) the Akkadian name eventually started to predominate over Sumerian, Erra was the less commonly used one, and there are also examples of late bilingual texts using Nergal's name in the Akkadian version and Erra's in the Sumerian translation, indicating it was viewed as antiquated and was not in common use.{{sfn|Wiggermann|1998|p=217}} Theophoric names invoking Erra are only attested from Old Akkadian to Old Babylonian period, with most of the examples being Akkadian, though uncommonly Sumerian ones occur too.{{sfn|Wiggermann|1998|p=217}} Despite his origin, he is absent from the inscriptions of rulers of the [[Akkadian Empire]].{{sfn|Wiggermann|1998|p=217}}

The similarity between the names of Erra and Lugal-irra is presumed to be accidental, and the element ''-irra'' in the latter is Sumerian and is conventionally translated as "mighty".{{sfn|Lambert|1987a|p=143}}