The designed cityscape: the urban and topographic context of the royal palace of Qatna

涉及在Qatna的挖掘和调查的项目将继续进行，并在长期项目的最后三年阶段结束。这一阶段的最终目标是在Qatna研究系列专题丛书的框架内全面出版挖掘和研究结果。计划全面研究所有的建筑和地层特征，所有的小发现和所有相关的陶器收藏，并最终确定可发表的手稿。由于叙利亚目前的局势，没有计划进一步挖掘或实地研究。由于政治原因，挖掘工作在2010年之后就停止了，对这些材料的大部分研究可能已经在过去的四年里进行了。在此基础上，可以实际地期望在项目第四个学期结束之前完成研究。因此，1999年开始的挖掘项目将于2018年结束，并公布所有结果。这些结果将为我们了解青铜器时代中后期叙利亚西部的建筑、年代学、陶器、雕刻、艺术以及文化和历史发展奠定新的基础。参考项目的具体研究问题，旨在调查设计的Qatna城市景观，在过去的项目期间获得了实质性的见解。它们将在接下来的项目期间进一步深化。这是指通过皇宫的建设对该地区的结构和思想转变的调查（主要目的A）和宫殿周围环境的视觉，象征和功能设计的研究（主要目的B）。直到2010年的挖掘活动都是针对这些问题，特别是宫殿的基础和下层结构。他们产生了需要进一步研究的相关数据，以便在2018年项目结束之前得出最终结论和主要研究问题的综合。

The project referring to the excavations and investigations at Qatna will be continued and brought to and end within the final three-year phase of the long-term project. The final aim of this phase is the full publication of the excavation and study results in the frame of the monographic series Qatna Studien. It is planned to study all architectural and stratigraphic features, all small finds and all relevant pottery collections in a complete way and to finalize the publishable manuscripts on the results. No further excavations or field studies are planned due to the current situation in Syria. As excavations have been halted after 2010 due to the political situation, a large part of the study of the materials could already be carried out in the last four years. On this basis it can realistically be expected that the studies can be finalized until the end of the fourth term of the project. The excavation project which started in 1999 will, thus, be ended in 2018 with the full publication of all results. These results will form a new basis for our knowledge on the architecture, chronology, pottery, glyptics, art and the cultural and historical development of Western Syria during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. With reference to the specific research question of the project, which aims at investigating the designed cityscape of Qatna, substantial insights have been gained during the past project term. They will be further deepened during the coming project term. This refers to the investigation of the structural and ideological transformation of the area by the construction of the royal palace (main aim A) and the study of the visual, symbolic and functional design of the surroundings of the palace (main aim B). The excavation activities until 2010 were directed towards these issues, particularly in the foundations and substructures of the palace. They produced relevant data which needs further study in order to reach final conclusions and a synthesis for the main research questions until the end of the project in 2018.