Four-room house

The four-room house is so named because its floor plan is divided into four sections, although not all four are proper rooms, one often being an unroofed courtyard.

Some had a five-, three-, or two-room layout, and sometimes the rooms were divided by additional walls into smaller areas.

Acknowledging these sub-types of the four-room house, the popularity of the structure started at the beginning of Iron Age I (end of the eleventh century BCE) and dominated the architecture of Israel through Iron Age II until the Babylonian Exile.

After the destruction of Judah (of the seventh and sixth centuries BCE) the architecture type was no longer utilized.

Disparity in house sizes and build quality within towns seem to be a result of socio-economic stratification within cities.

[4][5] Through archaeological excavations and anthropological studies, it is possible to report on building materials and possible methods used in the construction of the Israelite four-room houses.

The surfaces of exterior walls were likely plastered to prevent erosion from rainfall, which could be heavy and intense in the winter and spring of the region.