Scopus (mountain)

Scopus
	Scopus with Hebrew University from the southwest
height	826 m
location	Jerusalem , Israel
Coordinates	31 ° 47 '33 " N , 35 ° 14' 39" E Coordinates: 31 ° 47 '33 " N , 35 ° 14' 39" E

The scopus ( Hebrew הַר הַצּוֹפִים Har ha-Zōfīm , German 'mountain of scouts' ; Greek σκοπός Skopos , German 'Wache, Wachposten' , Latin scopus ) is a mountain in Jerusalem .

With its height of 826 m, Mount Scopus is known as a vantage point with a good view of Jerusalem. In the past it was of strategic importance in terms of defending the city. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been located on Mount Scopus since 1925 , the Wolffsohn building of the Jewish National and University Library inaugurated in 1929 and the large hospital of the Hadassah charitable organization built by Erich Mendelsohn and opened in 1939 .

history

During the Jewish War in AD 70, the Romans camped on the Scopus, and the Crusaders also camped there during the siege of Jerusalem (1099) .

The Hebrew University was founded in 1925, with the Mount of Olives and the Church of the Assumption in the background

Shortly before the declaration of the State of Israel, the campus and the convoys that were traveling from the exclave to West Jerusalem were repeatedly attacked by Arab militants. On April 13, 1948, a supply convoy en route to Hadassah Hospital was attacked while breaking the Arab blockade. Five vehicles, including two buses and an ambulance, were trapped. It took six hours for the British Army to intervene. 77 doctors, nurses and patients were killed in this attack on the Hadassah convoy . Today there is a memorial on Mount Scopus to commemorate the massacre, entitled with a Bible verse from Zephania 3:19: God says: "I will bring you fame and respect."

Since between 1949 and 1967 only occasional Israeli flying visits to Mount Scopus, mediated by the UN blue helmets, were possible, the institutions there relocated their operations to new sites, university and library on the new Givʿat Ram campus and the hospital in Ejn Kerem . After 1967 the campus and hospital on the Scopus were put back into operation.

Political status

Unlike the rest of East Jerusalem , Mount Scopus was held by the Israelis during the war for Israel's independence and was subsequently an enclave of Israel surrounded by Jordanian territory. Israel's sovereignty over Mount Scopus is internationally recognized. Today, Mount Scopus lies within the official (but not recognized under international law) limits of the city of Jerusalem.