Qatna’s Royal Palace has been jointly investigated
by Syrian, Italian and German teams between
1999 and 2006. Its layout has been nearly fully
explored and – considering the poor preservation
state of the building – its functional organisation
reconstructed as far as possible.
However, what remains uncertain is the
chronology of the building, which is still a matter
of debate, especially as far as its foundation is concerned.
Several proposals for dating the construction
of the Royal Palace – among which M.
Novák’s article in Egypt and the Levant 14, 2004
(“The Chronology of the Royal Palace of Qatna”,
299–318) is the most recent and comprehensive –
have been put forth, but none of these is based
upon firm stratigraphic data and archaeological
materials found in situ.
The broad stratigraphic and material evidence
excavated in eight years of archaeological exploration
by the Italian expedition is critically
reviewed and compared with the evidence presented
by Novák with the goal of achieving a more
precise and reliable chronology for the foundation
of Qatna’s Royal Palace.
