Secrets of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount

By Dr. Leen Ritmeyer and Kathleen Ritmeyer

Biblical Archaeology Society, Washington, DC, 1998

Review by David Tichenor

This book is not about politics or religion. It is a presentation of the archaeology of the Temple Mount and conclusions drawn by the authors from "the secrets" - physical evidences and historical documents.

The book itself does not offer a bibliography, but I was able to glean some information about the authors from the text. Dr. Ritmeyer (b.1945) began his research on the Temple Mount in 1973 (at the age of 28) as a field architect under the direction of Professor Benjamin Mazar, an esteemed elder of Israeli archaeologists, who was conducting an "expedition" for the Hebrew University. Mazar presented Ritmeyer’s theory of a square-shaped Temple Mount to the First International Congress on Biblical Archaeology in April 1984. Ritmeyer subsequently published articles in the Biblical Archaeology Review (’89, ’92 and ’96) which, in the publisher’s advertisement, are the foundation for this book. According to the Biblical Archaeology Society, "Kathleen Ritmeyer has worked with Leen on several projects, including a forthcoming book on the Temple Mount, and the preparation of a traveling exhibit of two large models of the Temple and the Temple Mount". Leen and Kathleen Ritmeyer met in 1975 on the Temple Mount excavations in Jerusalem.

In this book, the Ritmeyers analyze the available information, although it still remains sparse.  (Sparse here is relative to a huge structure, built, expanded and rebuilt by numerous occupants over thousands of years.)  They present photographs and drawings depicting and summarizing that information and the conclusions, such as the square-shaped Temple Mount, that we are guided to. It is incredible that while using documentation that is heavily reliant on the writings of the Bible, Talmud, Maccabees and Josephus, this work is virtually absent of any religious bent or emotion.

Each chapter of Secret of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount does indeed read like a "stand-alone" article for a magazine, such as National Geographic, and I mean in a good way. The information is presented in a clear and concise manner, written where a "common man" can read through it with ease. The photographs and drawings are great – a reader could get a worthy sampling of the book by simply looking over the generous graphic offerings and reading their captions.

I would highly recommend this book for the home library of a Temple "student". It might also be a good resource for the Jerusalem traveler who wants to "see for himself". I’ll be taking it along.