The ‘Ḫilani’: A Late Bronze Age Amuq-Cilician or Syro-Cilician Architectural Tradition?

Year 2021, Volume: XXIX Issue: XXIX, 77 - 108, 31.05.2021

Eric Jean

Abstract

Though the term “ḫilani” refers to an architectural form occurring in northern Syria during
the early centuries of the 1st millennium BCE, the Middle Bronze II Building E of Tilmen Höyük
in the Islahiye Valley and the Late Bronze I palace of Alalakh IV (15th century BCE) in the Amuq
are often given as the earliest examples or prototypes of ḫilani architecture. More recently, another
Late Bronze I ḫilani has been excavated at Kinet Höyük, a seaport in eastern Plain Cilicia. The
ḫilani of Kinet Höyük was built in the second half of the 16th century BCE. From the very beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE onwards, close contact between the Islahiye Valley, the Amuq
and Plain Cilicia have been notably reflected in locally made painted pottery from the Middle
Bronze Age. While the designation of such pottery as “Syro-Cilician” underscores the eastern
cultural orientation of Plain Cilicia, the term “Amuq-Cilician” enhances the characteristics of the
Amuq and Plain Cilicia. This raises the question of whether the ḫilani should be considered an
Amuq-Cilician, Syro-Cilician or yet another architectural tradition. After reviewing the different
uses of the term “ḫilani” in the scholarly literature, as well as the features that characterize it as
an architectural form, the ḫilani of Kinet Höyük is presented in its archaeological context. As an
important administrative building (hypothetically the seat of a political authority representing the
state of Kizzuwatna), it is then suggested that the ḫilani of Kinet Period 15C originates from a
north Syrian cultural influence. Conversely, the sudden appearance of Hittite-related pottery in
Kinet Period 15C suggests that the economy of Kizzuwatna was under a certain degree of Hittite
control. Economic and strategic interests would have therein motivated the establishment of such
a Hittite maritime outpost in Kizzuwatna, while the Hittite diplomatic skills would explain the success of this takeover. Thus, the ḫilani of Kinet Period 15C would have served as an architectural
expression of this diplomacy and recall a period in which the Hittite king was politically strong.
In the second half of the 16th century BCE, the most likely royal candidate who embodied the requisite qualities would be Telipinu (according to the Middle Chronology) or Murshili I (according
to the Low Chronology).

Keywords

Ḫilani, Kinet Höyük, Kizzuwatna, Hittite, Mittani, Late Bronze Age.

References

• Adamthwaite 2001 Adamthwaite, M. R., Late Hittite Emar. The Chronology, Synchronisms and Socio-Political Aspects of a Late Bronze Age Fortress Town, Ancient Near Eastern Studies Supplement 8, Louvain. Akar 2006 The Kinet Höyük MBII Building: The Levantine Palace Tradition in Eastern Cilicia, Unpublished Master Degree Thesis, Middle East Technical University, Ankara.