A new Old Assyrian incantation against the evil eye (e ¯num lamuttum) is published here, adding to the steadily increasing number of such texts. Parallels to Old Babylonian examples are provided, and in the context of a discussion of the religious life and practice of the Old Assyrian merchants, other new texts from Kültepe with previously unattested gods and information concerning a private chapel are presented.
Among the texts excavated by Prof. Tahsin Özgüç and his team at the site of Kültepe in 1994 were two incantations: kt 94/k 821, already published by Cécile Michel 1 , and kt 94/k 520, which is the topic of the present communication. The two texts come from two different archives discovered during the same campaign. The first belongs to the archive of the S ˇalim-As ˇs ˇur family currently under publication by Mogens Trolle Larsen. The second text, translated below, came from the archive of the merchant Irma-As ˇs ˇur, whose records are being prepared for publication by Gojko Barjamovic. 2 Michel recently listed the incantations so far known from private houses in the lower city at Kanesh. 3 In all, seven tablets with nine incantations have been identified: kt a/k 611 with an incantation against a "black dog", who lies in wait to attack the traveller straying from his caravan 4 , the fragmentary kt a/k 302 which relates to reed 5 , BIN 4, 126 and kt 94/k 821 that are both directed against the female demon Lamas ˇtum 6 , and kt 90/k 178, which bears two incantations -one concerned with giving birth, and the other with the common disease Altoriental. Forsch. 35 (2008) 1, 144-155 * We are grateful to Prof. C. Günbattı (Ankara) for his collation of kt 94/k 520 l. 23, as well as to Aa. Westenholz and J. Andersson for their critical comments on both texts. We are particularly indebted to W. Farber for his help, which led to a number of improved readings and interpretations of the Assyrian incantation.