Hilani

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The entrance to the National Museum of Aleppo in Syria is a reconstruction of a palace from Tell Halaf

Hilani (Bît Hilâni, bīt ḫilāni) is a form of building that dates from around 1500 BC. Until the end of the 7th century BC. Occurred in Asia Minor and the Middle East . The term was derived from the Hittite word "ḫilatar, ḫilannaš" for 'court'.

The first Hilani house appeared in the 16th century BC. In the palace of the kings of Jamchad in Alalach (Tell Açana, southeastern Turkey). Hilani houses are considered an invention of the Hurrites . In the late Hittite period, the Hilani style became a widespread architectural form in Anatolia and northern Syria: in Tell Halaf from the 9th century BC. And in Tell Schech Hamad from the 7th century BC In the Assyrian Empire and in Palestine ( Megiddo ), too , palaces were given the shape of the Hilani at this time.

Hilani style houses consisted of a central courtyard bordered on two sides by two elongated, parallel rectangular structures. The front side with the wide entrance between the two structures adorned by stairs, columns or relief pillars was often on the long side of the building. At the opposite end, the courtyard was closed by a narrow part of the building with a suite of rooms accessible from the courtyard. A staircase to the side of the portal led to an upper floor.

Hilani were stand-alone buildings that could be located within a larger palace complex. They had secular functions, whereby the shape of the entrance hall may have been derived from temple buildings.

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