Article

An Essay on a Local Version of the Historical "L-Hilani" Buildings in Katha-Adiyaman, Turkey

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Abstract

Bit Hilani, a kind of structure that has its origins in Anatolia/Northern Syria, is a type of plan that was widely used in palace architecture in Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, western Iran and Mesopotamia in the Iron Age. It had entered the scholarly literature in reference to Iron Age royal residencies of Neo-Hittite kingdoms in northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia. The province of Adiyaman in southeastern Anatolia was known as Kummuh in the first millennium BC. Kummuh was an Iron Age Neo-Hittite kingdom located west of the Euphrates between the kingdoms of Malatya to the north and Carchemish to the south. It is seen that the most fundamental factor determining the plan of the rural houses in the region is the historical element and therefore the houses bear a strong affinity to the architectural tradition of the region. The frontal colonnaded porch entrance is an important part of the symbolism of these buildings. This paper has tried to show that the bit-hilani still survives in the rural architecture of Kahta in Adiyaman, southeastern Anatolia under a local interpretation with main architectural characteristics within the concept of architectural continuity. The continuity of the special character of bit-hilani constitutes the memory of history in the region.

How to Cite:

Erarslan, A., (2014) “An Essay on a Local Version of the Historical "L-Hilani" Buildings in Katha-Adiyaman, Turkey”, Akkadica 135(2), 173–195. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/akkadica.99644

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