Main Buliding

Farther along in the corridor, almost directly opposite the door from the vestibule in front of the throne room, eight stone steps of a stairway (36) that led to the upper floor are still preserved in situ. Measurements of the steps and of the space available for the stairway indicate that the flight originally consisted of some twenty-one steps to the level above. On the opposite side of the building, also probably approached by a door from the vestibule, remains of two steps of another staircase (14-15) have survived. On this side the stairway rose to a landing in nine steps, turned to the right in two or three steps to another landing, then again to the right in a further flight of nine or ten steps to a corridor in the upper story. The level of the upper story was approximately 3.25 m (11 feet) higher than that of the ground floor.
The long corridor (35) continues beyond the north¬eastern staircase and opens into a passage (^y) that turns to the left, opposite the great portico (4) in front of the throne room. Here one enters a lobby (38) from which two rooms on the left are accessible (39-40).

They contained little of note save two or three interesting pots. Another door from the lobby leads straight ahead to a gateway (41), which had a single wooden column standing on a stone base in its fafade.
The latter opened northeastward onto a fairly spacious walled court (42), paved with stucco. This court was a late addition to the building; the rough stone walls forming it are very different in character from the finely smoothed blocks of the external wall of the building. We do not know what the court was used for; Blegen and Rawson thought it might have been the king's private court, in keeping with their view that the Main Building was a royal residence. More recent scholars, however, regard the entire complex as more administrative than residential. When excavated, this court was full of pottery that had been broken and discarded, including at least 348 shattered drinking cups, suggesting it was used partly as a refuse dump in the final stage of the life of the palace. In earlier phases there was probably a road or street that led from this gateway to the northeastern end of the site. In the late wall, which had no outside entrance or exit, there is, almost opposite the portal, a small squarish opening in which may be seen a terracotta water pipe. It thus seems likely that running water was brought to the site. There are no traces to show that a permanent water basin was installed in the court; perhaps ajar full of water was left standing here.
Beyond the northwestern end of the court one sees the only surviving part of the building's original exterior wall. It has an outside face made of large squared blocks of limestone, but with peculiar open V-shaped joints. All the blocks of the second course from the bottom bear on their top surface holes for dowels by which was fastened a great horizontal wooden beam, perhaps as much as 30 cm (1 foot) thick.