Function

James L. Walker – August 2025

Introduction

Unit J5 had two main goals in the two years of active excavation:

to follow the EDIII monumental revetment wall (previously excavated as part of unit J1) to the north, to determine the nature of the relationship of the components of that part of the wall system
to verify the geomagnetic survey data which showed that there might be a northern boundary to the ceremonial plaza in this general location, possibly through a link with a substantial building associated with the palace.

We found that the monumental wall undeed turned to the north and was overlaid by a Mittani replica of the EDIII wall, EDIII staircase, and EDIII plaza.

Architecture

There are two major architectural elements to analyze: the changes to the revetment wall through time; and the new Mittani monumental entrance to the BA temple.

Revetment Wall

The revetment wall had at least three iterations:

The top of an earlier wall lies just beneath the lowest layer of stones in the EDIII wall. See t241. When first excavated, we thought that they were “gap fillers” contemporary with the EDIII wall but ceramics found in contact with f284 were from an earlier period.
The extant EDIII wall was constructed in at least two phases. The earliest section, f41, seen after the turn north, and a later section, f189, facing east and nearest to the other monumental structures. See t226. Ceramics analysis does not reveal the timing, but the gap in the stone escarpment along the base of f189 but not f41 shows f189 was built later, perhaps due to a collapse of the original wall.
In the Mittani period, all of the EDIII monumental architecture became covered and a new revetment wall was built as part of a new temple access to the west of the original. Toward the end of the Mittani period, even this wall became covered and a faux wall of memory stones was laid on soil.

Objects

TEXT TO BE WRITTEN

Functional use

Sacral areas.