A pillared porch; a structure consisting of a columned portico, a long reception room with an adjoining staircase to the roof, and a varying number of retiring rooms. This architectural unit was much employed by the Syro-Hittites in the early 1st millennium BC, and was copied by the Assyrians. The earliest known examples are from Tell Atchana. A striking example is the Kaparu Palace at Tall Halaf.