Ronny Reich

Ronny Reich was born in 1947 in Rehovot

Reich was born in Rehovot in 1947 to Herta and David, who was killed in Operation Danny during the War of Independence. He grew up in Holon. As the only son of a bereaved family, he was allowed to begin university right after high school.

He studied geography and archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His MA thesis, supervised by Yigael Yadin, dealt with Assyrian architecture. Work in the Jewish Quarter excavations led by Nahman Avigad shifted his focus to the Early Roman period, and in 1990 he completed a PhD on Jewish ritual baths.

From 1978 to 1995 he directed the scientific archives of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums and began computerizing its site records. In 1986 he briefly served as Central District archaeologist. He helped Amir Drori turn the department into the Israel Antiquities Authority.

From 1989 he excavated in Jerusalem, at Mamillah, near Robinson's Arch and by the southern Temple Mount wall. From 1995, with Eli Shukron, he dug in the City of David, uncovering the Pool of Siloam and new parts of the water system near the Gihon spring. He joined the University of Haifa in 1995, became full professor in 2006 and headed the department from 2002 to 2005.