Ronny Reich
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Ronny Reich | |
---|---|
Rehovot, Israel | |
Nationality | Israel |
Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Known for | Jerusalem archaeological excavation, Miqwa'ot study |
Awards | Jerusalem Prize for Archaeology 2000 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Archaeology |
Institutions | Department of Archaeology at University of Haifa |
Doctoral advisor | Nahman Avigad, Lee I. Levine |
Ronny Reich (born 1947) is an Israeli archaeologist, excavator and scholar of the ancient remains of Jerusalem.
Education
Reich studied archaeology and geography at the
His participation in excavations in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, carried out between 1969 and 1978 and directed by
Employment
Between 1978 and 1995 Reich worked for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums (IDAM) as director of its scientific archives. In 1978 (before
Excavations and main discoveries
In 1989 Reich returned to archaeological field work, carried out at various Jerusalem sites:
- Burials from the late Ayyubidperiod.
- Between 1994 and 1996, in collaboration with Yakov Billig, Reich exposed a long segment of the stone paved road along the western wall of the Herodian Hulda Gates.
- His possibly most important work is the ongoing excavations, begun in 1995 in collaboration with City of David. On the south-western side of the hill the remains of a large stone-lined and stepped pool were exposed and identified as the Pool of Siloam. Nearby, a paved esplanade, a stepped street which ascends towards the Temple Mount and the main sewer under it, were unearthed, all from the Second Temple period(Early Roman).
- Of particular importance are Reich and Shukron's excavations near the spring identified with the biblical Gihon, on the eastern side of the City of David. Here, they uncovered additional elements of the water system known as "Warren's Shaft". The new discoveries were large elements, some constructed, some rock-cut. They offered a new understanding of how the Canaanite water system was created in the Middle Bronze II period (c. 18th-17th centuries BCE) and how it operated. These finds changed the common perception of how the system functioned, dominant from the initial discovery of the site in 1867 and up to 1995. The excavations have revealed that the spring was heavily fortified with a massive tower, constructed around it in the Middle Bronze Age II, and that Warren's Shaft itself was not part of the water system, certainly not an underground well, where water was drawn. Instead, they revealed a nearby element resembling a pool cut into the rock, where water was drawn.
- Another important discovery, near the Gihon spring, was a large waste heap. In a meticulous process of wet sifting, large amounts of non-epigraphic bullae (with graphic depictions but no script) and a huge amount of fish bones (Jerusalem is quite distant from the Mediterranean Sea; however, it is close to the Jordan River where 22 species of fish live) were discovered, dating to the late 9th – early 8th century BCE.
In 1995 Reich became a faculty member of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, teaching classical archaeology.[1] He became associate professor in 2002 and full professor in 2006. Between 2002 and 2005 he served as the head of the department. Reich's lengthy activities in Jerusalem have made him a prominent scholar of the city's archaeology and history. For these contributions, he was awarded the 'Jerusalem Prize for Archaeology' by the City of Jerusalem in 2000. In 2012 he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, Class I.
In addition to his two major fields of interest (ritual baths
Reich has faced scrutiny for his connection to the right-wing Elad association.[4]
Community service
Reich sees great importance in bringing his discoveries to the knowledge of the general public. From writing articles of popular nature, to writing articles for Hebrew Wikipedia, and particularly taking part in developing excavated sites for the public. He took part in the development of the Archaeological Park near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the
Other activities
Reich's main hobby is translating and publishing treatises on ancient architecture and art, plays and poetry into Hebrew. His translation of Vitruvius' De architectura (1997) was considerably successful. He also published these translations:
- Andrea Palladio / I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (2000);
- Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola / The Rules for the Five Orders of Architecture(2002);
- Ross King / Brunelleschi's Dome (2003);
- Louis-Hugues Vincent / Underground Jerusalem (2008);
- Natural History(Books 33–37)(2009).
- Bertolt Brecht / Refugees' Talks (1996);
- Christian Morgenstern / Gallows Songs (2004);
- Herta Reich / Within Two Days, the flight of a young Austrian Jewish woman 1938-1944 (2009), directly related to his personal history.
Decorations and awards
- 2000 Jerusalem Prize for Archaeology
- 2012 Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
References
- ^ "Prof. Ronny Reich". Archlgy.haifa.ac.il. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ See Ronny Reich, “Design and Maintenance of First-century Ritual Immersion Baths,” Jerusalem Perspective 56 (1999): 14-19.
- ^ See Ronny Reich, “Ossuary Inscriptions from the Caiaphas Tomb,” Jerusalem Perspective 33/34 (1991): 13-22.
- ^ Nir Hasson (29 March 2012). "In Jerusalem's City of David excavation, politics is never absent". Haaretz. Retrieved 7 April 2012.