EMBELLISHING THE INTERIOR SPACES OF ASSYRIA'S ROYAL PALACES: THEBĒT ḪILĀNIRECONSIDERED

Abstract

Thebēt ḫilāniis one of the most famous features of Assyria's royal palaces as well as one of its most elusive. The term is mostly known from Assyrian royal inscriptions, which describe it as an architectural feature inspired by the architecture of Syro-Anatolia. Such explicit references to the architecture of other cultures is exceptional and provides a rare glimpse into the valuations of Assyria's architects.Modern attempts to identify thebēt ḫilāniarchaeologically are almost as old as the field of ancient Near Eastern Studies. Unfortunately, the discourse has become more convoluted over time through the integration of disparate architectural features into a singlebēt ḫilānidiscourse and a narrow view of how architectural exchanges occur. Past research has generally assumed a morphological correspondence between the Assyrianbēt ḫilāniand the external porticoes that typify Syro-Anatolian architecture. This article will argue that Assyrian architects had a different set of ideals and interests which led them to change the external Syro-Anatolian portico into an interior feature used to add monumentality and ornamentation to the rooms of Assyria's palaces. This changes thebēt ḫilānifrom a morphological category into a decorative one and contextualises it within the architectural traditions of Assyria.