Leen Ritmeyer


Leen Ritmeyer is a Dutch-born archaeological architect who currently lives and works in Wales, after having spent 22 years in Jerusalem.

Career

Ritmeyer holds an M.A. in Conservation Studies from the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, University of York, England, and a Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, 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 directed by Benjamin Mazar, and 10 years in the Jewish Quarter Excavations of the Old City of Jerusalem, directed by Nahman Avigad.
Ritmeyer is known for the "solid scientific research" he has done on the archaeology and architecture of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He discovered archaeological evidence for the location of Solomon's Temple, the emplacement of the Ark of the Covenant 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 cubits in Mishnah Middot 2.1. He has demonstrated that one of the steps leading to the Dome of the Rock is actually the top of a remaining stone course of the pre-Herodian 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: