Page 175 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

PART TWO:
the peripheral regions

25 METRES
90 FEET

Figure 67. The palace of Niqmcpa, Tell Atchana

guardroom gave access to the upper storeys by means of a built-in staircase, and also to the
main court (2). On the two narrow sides of this court are suites, each of two connected
offices; at the back are two suites of residential quarters. One consists of three rooms
only, presumably a bedroom (4) with bathroom (3) and lavatory. The other suite is
much larger (rooms 5-10), but contains likewise a bathroom (7) and lavatory (6). The
annexe consists of magazines and offices, and contained the state archives (n). In this
room walls and floors were covered with a white cement plaster, and the tablets - prob­
ably packed in jars or baskets - were placed on low shelves around the walls. Fragments
of treaties and many royal letters were found here. Room 12 was, one presumes, the
office of the scribes.
The wide doorways supported by a column are remarkable. They recall porticos
in Egyptian private houses at Lahun (Middle Kingdom), and if the parallel holds good,
the spaces south of them were not rooms, but light-shafts or small courts with one
overed in. There was, however, a second storey in the annexe, and it has even been
parte
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