Introduction

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Introduction

The two outstanding architectural features in the Plaza as excavated so far as those that delimit its northern edge: the revetment wall and the staircase complex. These two features constitute, at the same time, the hinge between the lower and the upper sacred area, i.e., the Plaza and the Temple Terrace.

Both the revetment wall and the staircase are monumental in nature, they convey rich meanings, and are extremely well preserved.

They are also steeped in history. On the one hand, they remained in constant use for over one thousand years. On the other, they seem to be follow closely the footprint of a much earlier antecedent: if so, the history of the sacred space bespeaks an amazing continuity, stretching as it does over some two millennia.

The Temple Terrace stands in the middle of the settlement of Urkesh and is fronted by the wide open Plaza.

Several structures define its architecture:

1. The summit or Terrace: the high central rise with the temple and service structures at its summit. The summit was not, therefore, a cusp on which the temple sat in isolation, but rather a wide area, where activities, presumably related to the cult, would take place.
   
2. The core: the interior of the Temple Terrace as in the EDIII Period. The core is made of the stratified sequence of occupation levels, which at a certain moment (evidence in J3 in the LC3 Period) was filled and covered with a series of glacis.
   
3. The Glacis: the surfaces covering the core, made of different material
   
4. Walls: a complex of stone walls enclosing the core, serving as revetment wall, as enclosure wall/temenos, as face of the terrace
   
5. Escarpments: the base of the walls are protected by a series of escarpments made from different material and constructed in several moments, to protect the base of the walls from erosion
   
6. Staircases: four staircases were constructed to enhance the level between the Plaza and the Terrace, constructed in different moments
   
7. Second Apron:a frame of the terrace during the mittani period
   
8. installations: few pits, secondary walls and two storage structures (bin)