Overlooking Jerusalem , Mount Scopus has been strategically important as a base from which to attack the city since antiquity . The 12th Roman Legion camped there in AD 66 . In AD 70 , at the conclusion of the same war that led to the destruction of the Jewish Temple , Mount Scopus was used as a base to carry out the final siege of the city by the same 12th Legion , plus the 15th and 5th Legions , while the 10th Legion was positioned on the continuation of the same ridge , known as the Mount of Olives . The Crusaders used it as a base in 1099 . The exact location of the mountain known in the ancient sources as Mount Scopus is not known . It is described as being in the north-eastern part of the ridge that prominently includes the Mount of Olives , which dominates Jerusalem from the east . As the Zionist organisations decided to build a new Jewish institution of higher learning in Jerusalem , which eventually became the Hebrew University , they decided that it was unwise to try and ask for donations for a project designed to be built on the Mount of Olives , a location with mainly Christian connotations . The site chosen for the university did correspond approximately to the description of the ancient Mount Scopus , and so it was decided to name that particular peak Mount Scopus . The name became widely used and few Jerusalemites would nowadays know about this rebranding story of an old name . The ancient Mount Scopus can not be far though from the modern one . In 1948 , as the British began letting go of their security responsibilities , the Jewish enclave on Mount Scopus became increasingly cut off from the main sections of Jewish Jerusalem . Access to hospital and university campus was through a narrow road , a mile and a half long , passing through the Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah . Arab sniper fire on vehicles moving along the access route became a regular occurrence , and road mines were laid . When food and supplies at the hospital begun to dwindle , a large convoy carrying doctors and supplies set out for the besieged hospital , leading to an attack that became known as the Hadassah medical convoy massacre . Seventy-eight Jewish doctors , nurses , students , patients , faculty members and Haganah fighters , and one British soldier were killed in the attack . After the ceasefire agreement of November 30 , 1948 , which established the division of East and West Jerusalem , Israel controlled the western part of the city while Jordan controlled the east . Several demilitarized " no man 's land " zones were established along the border , one of them Mount Scopus . Fortnightly convoys carrying supplies to the university and hospital located in the Israeli part of the demilitarized zone on Mount Scopus were periodically held up by Jordanian troops
Hadassah medical convoy massacre
Hadassah medical convoy massacre
Mount Scopus