Palaces, in many respects, represent the
main outcome of the great socio-economic transformation
that characterised the outgrowth of
urban societies during the first half of the second
millennium BC. In the Levant, the type of building
that appeared was characterised by traits that
make it quite different from similar and contemporaneous
buildings located in Mesopotamia. This
fact suggests the existence of an independent local
tradition in the Levant which has thus usually been
analysed in distinct chronological segments, with
separate discussions of the relevant Middle Bronze
Age (MBA) and Late Bronze Age (LBA) evidence to
hand. This work uses two case studies of palace
architecture dating to the MBA and LBA from Qatna
to propose an analysis that highlights the existence
of several shared traits. Via comparisons with
contemporary examples, in particular Alalakh, a
common genesis that developed along a unique
and continuous path is suggested for both MBA
and LBA palaces. The social role of northern
Levantine palaces is thus seen as an expression of
new local leaderships and as the vehicle of a common
language whose origin might be traced back
to the emergence of the so-called Amorite Koiné.
