Footnote 2 – Reconstructing Herod’s Temple Mount in Jerusalem

The original architect on this excavation was Munya Dunayevsky, who had collaborated closely with Professor Mazar on many earlier excavations for over 30 years until his untimely death in 1969. Dunayevsky made a major contribution to the initial stratigraphical analysis of the site, and his drawing of the southwest corner of the Temple Mount shows the preliminary understanding of the superstructure of the western wall.

Following Dunayevsky’s death, the Irish architect Brian Lalor introduced the technique of three-dimensional reconstruction drawing to the dig. The basic concept of the reconstruction of the area around the Temple Mount is his. Lalor’s catalogue of architectural elements provided an overview of the composite style employed in Herodian architecture. It was he who first suggested that Robinson’s Arch supported, not a bridge, but a monumental stairway.

Following in Lalor’s footsteps came David Sheehan, another Irish architect, and Leen Ritmeyer, from Holland. David Sheehan worked out some of the problems of the street adjacent to the western wall, adding the shops for which evidence had been found and the flight of steps that led up over them alongside the western wall. Details of Leen Ritmeyer’s contribution are contained in this article.