The Ronnie Ellenblum Jerusalem History Knowledge Center

Prof. Ronnie Ellenblum

The Originator & Initiator of the Knowledge Center

“There are few places in the whole world that have aroused and still arouse such deep interest in the hearts of so many people as Jerusalem. No existing city has undergone so many cycles of conquest, exile, and destruction as Jerusalem. Over time, these cycles—and the expectations for rebuilding at the End of Days—became foundational symbols and the base for the collective identities of all the civilizations active here. Jerusalem has been immortalized in every form of human creation; numberless pilgrims and dreamers, artists and authors, musicians, film makers and intellectuals described it in their works. Many who never visited Jerusalem in reality also described it as they imagined it.” Thus Prof. Ellenblum wrote in his proposal to establish the knowledge center.

Prof. Ronnie Ellenblum, the designated head of the Center, died unexpectedly in early 2021. Ronnie was a full professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who since completing his doctoral dissertation in 1991 had specialized in research on the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, historical cities, and climate and environmental history.

His great love was the study of Jerusalem as a multicultural city, to which he devoted three decades of his academic life. Among other things, he founded and managed in 2001-2005 a joint project of the Hebrew University and Al Quds University in East Jerusalem to create a comprehensive historical database of the city.

Prof. Ellenblum led the excavations and research of the Crusader fortress at Metzad Ateret (Vadum Iacob) on the banks of the Jordan, and his groundbreaking research on the settlement pattern and the fortresses of the Crusader kingdom in the Holy Land gave him a worldwide reputation.

He was a member of the Israeli National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of Claire Hall (Cambridge University). Many of his publications, including his three major books (published by Cambridge University Press), the articles he wrote and the books he edited touched on the development of Jerusalem in different periods, and the physical and social structure of the city, with a special focus on the Crusader period.

The idea of combining in-depth academic knowledge of Jerusalem with a popular and multidisciplinary approach in order to bring historical Jerusalem to the consciousness of the entire world in an innovative and attractive way, accompanied Ronnie in all his research activities for nearly forty years. As an instructor and teacher at the Experimental High School in Jerusalem, he had a special approach to the younger generation. Over the years he developed the attitude that it is possible and necessary to combine in-depth academic knowledge with a broad view of the diverse history and culture of Jerusalem, and through innovative technological tools—to make the city and its culture accessible in a clear and attractive way to different audiences.