The Akkadian series Maql , "Burning," is one of the most significant and interesting magical texts from the Ancient Near East. While containing almost 100 incantations and accompanying rituals directed against witches and witchcraft, it actually represents 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. This edition of the text contains a detailed introduction as well as an annotated transcription and translation of the text.
