The Witchcraft Series Maqlu

A new reconstruction and translation of the Maqlû text

The Akkadian series Maqlû, 'Burning'; is one of the most significant and interesting magical texts from the Ancient Near East. The incantations and accompanying rituals are directed against witches and witchcraft and actually represent a single complex ceremony. The ceremony was performed during a single night and into the following morning at the end of the month Abu (July/August), a time when spirits were thought to move back and forth between the netherworld and the world of the living.

Features:

• English translation of approximately 100 incantations and rituals
• Annotated transcription
• Introduction places the series in historical context and shows how it is a product of a complex literary and ceremonial development.