A fundamental architectural form ofthe Mesopotamian
world was the house (i in Sumerian, bitu
in Akkadian), which primarily meant the house
ofa family but was also used to refer to palaces
andtemples. These terms were sometimes qualified
as in i.GAL (ekallum).large house or palace,
or in i.MAR, exalted house. or i.WR, mountain
house, both meaning temple.
Samarran houses had many rectangular rooms
with the internal walls matching the external
buttresses. Those at Tell al-Sawwan were Tshaped
and divided into two parts. At Songor
and Choga Mami, houses were rectangular and
the rooms formed a regular grid. In the Halaf
period (circa 6ooo-s4oo BeE) the typical houses
were round structures often with a rectangular
annex (often incorrectly cal1ed tholoi)