The Central Palace

On a base area of at least 38'000 m2, a step pyramid rises, over 4 terraces (2nd – 5th terrace), to a height of 30 m. Large parts of the existing structure of the mound was used as a substructure for the terraces; the remaining part was massively built up. The boundary between those two ways of construction is clearly visible as a red line on the surface of the mound in the west, north and partially in the east.
The terraces are connected through three monumental stairways. The southern front of the building is the main front: it is dominated by the South Stairway which links the 1st and the 5th terrace. The scale of the stairway is enormous: at the bottom, it is 47.5 m wide and after a half-pace it narrows to 34.5 m, the minimum length is 159 m. Furthermore, the south façade is decorated with niches and protrusions.
Only a few rooms have been excavated in the area of the Central Palace. Terraces 2 to 4 are badly eroded, in most parts only the substructures remain, and the 5th terrace has been badly damaged by the Syrian army in 1998 which renders work in this area very difficult.

The Terraces

The 2nd terrace

± 368.500 m above sea level. No buildings have been detected so far on the 2nd terrace; the protrusions on the southern façade of the 3rd terrace and the 4th terrace to the west of the Southern Stairway as well as the ornamentation of the western flank of the Southern Stairway on the level of the 2nd terrace let buildings in the south seem rather unlikely. Area: 7s425 mm2 (access areas and open space included). Because of the bad state of preservation there are no findings in situ, which could shed light on the function of the terrace.

The 3rd terrace

± 372.500 m above sea level. The 3rd terrace runs only east of the Southern Stairway, a counterpart on the western part is impossible because of the height of the brick massive in 36/38 (max. 374.570 m). Building activities are preserved in Rooms R109 and R110. Area: 1s920 m2 (access included). The assignment of functions depends on the importance of the fragment of a clay tablet found in the debris of room R109: a list of two servants to the household of the entu-priestess (HT 3 = TH 2, 1990, 326–327).

The 4th terrace

± 377.500 m above sea level. Building activities are preserved in Rooms R115 and R126. No specific function can be determined.

The 5th terrace

± 384.000 m above sea level (south), ± 384.500 m above sea level (north).
An older phase is dominated by a fountain with its starting point at a asphalt basin east of the centre of room R101, measuring 1.40 m x 0.40 m x 0.355 m. From this basin, a channel leads east in an erratic course and is ending in room R112 in the modern surface. Like the basin, the channel is surfaced with asphalt, and it is framed with individually formed clay hands (?) or feet (?). The two small channels running from south to north and made of bricks aligned in v-shape can not yet be sufficiently explained.
The younger phase shows continuous plastering, the dominant findings are Sikkatu and Sikkatu fragments found in larger and smaller quantities along the walls. It is possible to interpret them as fasteners for textile wall hangings.
In the north, only four rooms could be unearthed: R113, R114, R117 and R118. The striking thing about R114 is the asymmetrical stepped niche in the north, forming a podium. Area: 19s910 m2 (access included). Function: Because of the position, the large rooms, and maybe also because of the much better quality of pottery and small finds found on the uppermost terrace, it is likely that this part of the building complex constituted the royal residence.

The Stairways

As the South Stairway only gave access to the 5th terrace, two additional stairways had to be constructed to link terrace 1 with terraces 2 and 4 (North-East Stairway, min. length 80,40 m, max. width 49,50 m) and to terraces 2, 3 and 4 (South-West Stairway, min. length 60,85 m, max. wid th 59,40 m).