Leen Ritmeyer (; born 1945) is a Dutch-born

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who currently lives and works in Wales, after having spent 22 years (1967–89) in Jerusalem.

Career

Ritmeyer holds an M.A. in Conservation Studies from the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies,

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, England, and a Ph.D. from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, England. Beginning in 1973, Ritmeyer served for 4 years as official architect of the archaeological dig at the Western Wall and Southern Wall of the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

directed by Benjamin Mazar,"How We Lost the Temple Mount," Hershel Shanks, Moment (magazine), June 2002. and 10 years in the Jewish Quarter Excavations of the Old City of Jerusalem, directed by Nahman Avigad. In Gershom Gorenberg's words, " en archeologists speak today of solid scientific research on the Temple's location, they’re most likely to refer to Leen Ritmeyer", referring to his work on the

in Jerusalem. He presented solid arguments based on archaeological evidence collected over at least a century of research for the location of Solomon's Temple, the emplacement of the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, was a religious storage chest and relic held to be the most sacred object by the Israelites. Religious tradition describes it as a wooden storage chest decorat ...

on the Foundation Stone, and the location of the platform as extended in the First Temple period, probably during the time of Hezekiah described as a square of 500

cubit The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding Noah ...

s in ''

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

Middot'' 2.1. He has demonstrated that one of the steps leading to the

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...

is actually the top of a remaining stone course of the pre-

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus () of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς με ...

Western Wall of the Temple Mount platform. Ritmeyer is known for his architectural models of the buildings of ancient Jerusalem. His models of the historical Jewish Temples have been exhibited at museums including the Yeshiva University Museum in New York and the Siegfried H. Horn Museum at Andrews University, Michigan.

Works

Ritmeyer has published several books, some together with his wife, Kathleen, including: * ''Understanding the Holy Temple Jesus Knew'' (2017) * ''Understanding the Holy Temple of the Old Testament'' (2016) * ''Jerusalem the Temple Mount'' (2015) * ''The Quest: Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem'' Eric H. Cline, ''The Quest'' (book review), Biblical Archaeology Review, "Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem," 12 January 2012. (2006) * ''Secrets of Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Updated and Enlarged Edition'' (2006) * ''Jerusalem in the Time of Nehemiah'' (2005/2014) * ''Jerusalem in the Year 30 AD'' (2004/2014) * ''Jerusalem at the Time of Jesus'' (2004) * ''The Ritual of the Temple in the Time of Christ'' (2002/2015) * ''Secrets of Jerusalem's Temple Mount'' (1998) * ''From Sinai to Jerusalem: The Wanderings of the Holy Ark''"Getting serious about the Ark of the Covenant," Gabriel A. Sivan (book review), Jerusalem Post, 21 July 2000. (2000) * ''The Temple and the Rock'' (1996)

References

External links

Ritmeyer Archaeological Design
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritmeyer, Leen Alumni of the University of York Alumni of the University of Manchester Israeli archaeologists Living people Biblical archaeology 1945 births

Career

Works

See also

References

External links