Middle hall house
The middle hall house is a typical construction in ancient Mesopotamia . It appeared in the Obed period and later became the typical design for monumental and representative buildings, but could also be used as a basis for private houses. Especially for the Chalcolithic Ubaid and Uruk culture , this house floor plan is considered a key fossil . Its spread as far as northern Mesopotamia, where corresponding buildings were uncovered in Habuba Kabira , Tell Brak , Tell Hamoukar , Tell es-Sweyhat and other sites, served, among other things, as evidence of a so-called Uruk expansion .
The long rectangular hall that gives it its name is typical of central hall houses, with irregular wings on either side. It can be expanded in a T-shape. This central hall was the functional center of the building. But it also served as an access route to the room wings on the side. In temples of this type, there are often cult niches on one of the narrow sides of this hall.
literature
- Hans J. Nissen : History of the Ancient Near East , Munich 2012, p. 37.
- Astrid Nunn : Der Alte Orient , Aalen 2011, p. 103.