Mount Scopus' hebrew name means "mount of the spectators" as it is one of the few places from which both the Dead Sea and the Dome of the Rock can be seen. It has consequently always been seen in terms of military importance; Titus, the First Crusade and General Allenby all used the place to pitch camp. Today about 3,000 of Allenby's troops continue to look over the city from their impeccable cemetery.

The Hebrew University was founded here in 1925, and from 1948 to 1967 it was an Israeli enclave in Jordan. After 1967 the University and its hospital were re-founded and now dominate the skyline.