The Ronnie Ellenblum Jerusalem History Knowledge Center: Conceptual Framework and Implementation

Abstract

This paper describes the vision, framework, challenges, and implementation of the Jerusalem History Knowledge Center (JHKC) initiated by the late Ronnie Ellenblum. The center’s establishment was configured as a joint project of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), the National Library of Israel (NLI), and the Israel Antiquities Authorities (IAA). Its primary mission and challenge were to establish a long-term digital infrastructure constituting an open-access platform about the history of Jerusalem, which draws on diverse sources, such as archaeological records, historical documents, pilgrims’ accounts, old and new photographs and videos, architectural reconstructions, etc. The first stages included the classification of databases about two sites in Jerusalem: the Citadel—Tower of David and the Damascus Gate. As part of this work, we implemented a unified search in interdisciplinary databases regarding a specific geographical area or a single monument. The center’s products will eventually operate at two levels: at the research level, facilitating work in the fields of history, archeology, art, geography, social sciences, etc., and at the popular level, serving the general public.