Leen Ritmeyer is a Dutch-born archaeological architect who currently lives and works in Wales, having spent 22 years in Jerusalem from 1967-1989. He holds the M.A. in Conservation Studies from the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, University of York

University of York

The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...

, England, and the Ph.D. from the University of Manchester

University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...

, England. He is a member of the Christadelphian church.

Ritmeyer is known for the "solid scientific research" he has done on the archaeology and architecture of the Temple Mount

Temple Mount

The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...

 in Jerusalem. He discovered archaeological evidence for the location of Solomon's Temple

Solomon's Temple

Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....

, the emplacement of the Ark of the Covenant

Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...

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

Hezekiah

Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and the 14th king of Judah. Edwin Thiele has concluded that his reign was between c. 715 and 686 BC. He is also one of the most prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Bible....

 described as a square of 500 cubit

Cubit

The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times....

s in Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

 Middot

Middot (Talmud)

Middot is the tenth Mishnahic tractate of the Order of Kodashim. It has no Gemara either in the Jerusalem Talmud or the Babylonian Talmud. The tractate deals with the measurements of the Second Temple in Jerusalem....

 2.1. He has demonstrated that one of the steps leading to the Dome of the Rock

Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The structure has been refurbished many times since its initial completion in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik...

 is actually the top of a remaining stone course of the pre-Herodian western wall of the Temple Mount platform.
Ritmeyer is well known for his architectural models of the buildings of ancient Jerusalem. His models of the historical Jewish Temples

Replicas of the Jewish Temple

Replicas of the Jewish Temple are scale models or authentic buildings that attempt to replicate the Temple of Solomon, Second Temple and Herod's Temple in Jerusalem.-Scale models:...

 have been exhibited at museums including the Yeshiva University Museum

Yeshiva University Museum

The Yeshiva University Museum is a teaching museum and the cultural arm of Yeshiva University. Along with the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Foundation, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, it is a member organization of the Center for...

 in New York and the Siegfried H. Horn Museum.

Ritmeyer has published several books, some together with his wife, Kathleen.

External links

• http://www.ritmeyer.com/