Mount Scopus is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem.
Between the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the Six-Day War in 1967, Mount Scopus was a UN-protected Israeli exclave within Jordanian-administered territory. Today, Mount Scopus lies within the municipal boundaries of the city of Jerusalem.
It contains many famous landmarks.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Construction of the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University began in 1918 on land purchased from the Gray Hill estate. The dedication ceremony was held in 1925 in the presence of many dignitaries.[8] A design for the university campus by Sir Patrick Geddes positioned the university buildings on the slopes of the mount, below a domed, hexagonal Great Hall recalling the Star of David, as a counterpoint to the octagonal Dome of the Rock in the Old City.[9] This plan was never implemented, but Geddes designed the university Library, today the Hebrew University Faculty of Law on Mount Scopus. By 1947, the university was a solid research and teaching institution with humanities, science, medicine, education and agriculture departments (in Rehovot), a national library, a university press and an adult education center. The university had a student population of over 1,000 and 200 faculty members.
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design: Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design is Israel's national school of art, founded in 1906 by Boris Schatz. It is named for the Biblical figure Bezalel, son of Uri (Hebrew: בְּצַלְאֵל בֶּן־אוּרִי), who was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 35:30).
Cave of Nicanor: The Cave of Nicanor is an ancient burial cave located on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, Israel. Excavations in the cave discovered an ossuary referring to "Nicanor the door maker." He has been identified as Nicanor of Alexandria, who donated one of the gates of Herod's Temple. The cave is located in the Botanical gardens on the grounds of the National Botanical Garden. There was a plan to use the Cave of Nicanor as a national Pantheon of the Zionist movement, but due to circumstances (the area of Mount Scopus after receipt of Israel's independence was an enclave, surrounded by the West Bank territorial possessions of Jordan), this project was not implemented. Only two of the Zionist leaders – Leon Pinsker and Menachem Ussishkin – were interred inside one room of the ancient tomb. After 1948, the national cemetery was created on Mount Herzl, closer to the centre of West Jerusalem.
Hadassah Hospital (Mount Scopus): In 1939, the Hadassah Women's Organization opened a teaching hospital on Mount Scopus in a building designed by architect Erich Mendelsohn. In 1948, when the Jordanians occupied East Jerusalem and blockaded the road to Mount Scopus, the hospital could no longer function. In 1960, after running clinics in various locations, the organization opened a medical center on the other side of the city, in Jerusalem's Ein Karem neighborhood. On April 13, 1948, a civilian convoy bringing medical supplies and personnel to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus was attacked by Arab forces. 78 Jews, mainly doctors and nurses, were killed in the ambush.
Hecht Synagogue, Hebrew University: The Hecht Synagogue, a massive building which looks more like a fort than a place of worship and prayer, was erected by the family of Mayer Jacob "Chic" Hecht (1928–2006), a Republican United States Senator from Nevada and U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas. It is noted for the unique arrangement of the Torah ark and the panoramic view of the Old City from a huge window.
National Botanical Garden of Israel: The National Botanic Garden of Israel, also called the Land of Israel Botanic Garden, was founded on the grounds of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus by botanist Alexander Eig in 1931. This garden contains one of the largest collections of Israeli uncultivated plants. This was the first home of Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo. A cave in the garden has been identified as the Tomb of Nicanor.
Jerusalem British War Cemetery: The British cemetery in Jerusalem (Jerusalem War Cemetery) is a military cemetery for fallen soldiers of the British Empire, later known as the British Commonwealth of Nations, in World War I in Palestine. The cemetery is located on the neck of land on the north end of the Mount of Olives and west of Mount Scopus. 2515 were buried in the cemetery fallen soldiers, of 2449 war dead, including 2218 British casualties. A total 100 fallen soldiers are unidentified. A memorial was placed in the cemetery to 3300 service personnel killed in operations in Palestine and Egypt who have no known grave. In all, commemorated in this cemetery are 5815 service personnel of World War I. No casualties buried in the cemetery died after the war. Kiryat Menachem Begin: Kiryat Menachem Begin, named after former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and also known as Kiryat HaMemshala, is a complex of government buildings in East Jerusalem located between Sheikh Jarrah in the north, adjacent to Mount Scopus in the east and Ammunition Hill in the west. It serves as home to several government offices, along with the main government complex in Givat Ram. It also includes the National Headquarters of the Israel Police.
Tabachnik Garden: Tabachnik Garden is a National Park located on the southern slopes of Mount Scopus, next to the Hebrew University. The park preserves some Jewish burial caves from the Second Temple period and is also contains two smaller cemeteries, the Bentwich Cemetery and one of the cemeteries of the American Colony. Inside the park there are two lookouts, one facing eastward towards the Dead Sea and the Judean Desert, the other westward towards the Temple Mount.
Jerusalem American Colony Cemetery: The American Colony Cemetery on Mount Scopus is the main cemetery of Jerusalem's American Colony, located next to the Hebrew University in the Tabachnik Garden. Among those buried there are Anna Spafford and Jacob Spafford (1864–1932), born in Ramallah as Jacob Eliahu into a Turkish Jewish family, adoptive son of Horatio and Anna Spafford and discoverer of the Siloam inscription.
Bentwich Cemetery: A small cemetery, dedicated to Herbert Bentwich and his family, is located beside the American Colony Cemetery in Tabachnik Garden.
Ammunition Hill: Ammunition Hill was a fortified Jordanian military post in the north-west side of Mount Scopus in Jerusalem that was in the northern part of Jordanian East Jerusalem. It was the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Six-Day War.
