User:Yoavd/photos/Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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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. 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. 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.


The Hebrew University Botanical Garden on Mount Scopus was founded by botanist Alexander Aig 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 of Alexandria, who donated one of the gates of Herod's Temple.