Nayot ( he, נָיוֹת) is a neighborhood in south-central

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

established in 1960 by a group of English-speaking immigrants.''A holy hill becomes home from home''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

Magazine, Anglo File, December 24, 1999

Etymology

The name ''Nayot'' (lit. "oases") appears six times in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, in

I Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshu ...

(I Samuel 19:18).''Batei Tzioney America'', Kol Ha'ir, Ruth Yovel, July 3, 1987 (Hebrew)

History

Nayot was the first housing project in Jerusalem built by Anglo immigrants to Israel. Until an official name was announced in 1963, it was known as ''Hashikun Ha'anglo Saxi'' (the Anglo-Saxon neighborhood). English-speaking immigrants seeking housing in the 1950s formed a committee in 1957, and leased 16 dunams of land from the

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...

below the hill where the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

and the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

are located today, which was outside the boundaries of Jerusalem at the time. Of the first 62 semi-detached homes built in 1960, fifty were purchased by families who immigrated to Israel from the United States and Canada. Many of the first tenants were diplomats, among them

Simcha Dinitz Simcha Dinitz ( he, שמחה דיניץ, born 23 June 1929, died 23 September 2003) was an Israeli statesman and politician. He served as Director General of the Prime Minister's office and political advisor to Prime Minister Golda Meir from 1969 ...

. The architect was

David Resnick David Resnick ( he, דוד רזניק; August 5, 1924 – November 4, 2012) was a Brazilian-born Israeli architect and town planner whose awards include the Israel Prize in architecture

, who won the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for architecture in 1995. The committee also set up a

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

fund, which was unknown in Israel in those days. Fundraising in the United States brought in $100,000, and the Israeli government matched the sum, creating a fund of $200,000.

Landmarks

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens is located in Nayot.Gems in Israel: The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

Notable residents

* Shimon Agranat''Batei Tzioney America'', Kol Ha'ir, Ruth Yovel, July 3, 1987 (Hebrew) *

Eliyahu Lankin Eliyahu Lankin ( he, אליהו לנקין, 25 September 1914 – 10 August 1994) was a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun member and an Israeli politician. Biography Eliyahu Lankin was born in Gomel, and moved with his fami ...

''Batei Tzioney America'', Kol Ha'ir, Ruth Yovel, July 3, 1987 (Hebrew)

References

{{coord, 31, 46, 4.77, N, 35, 12, 10.48, E, display=title Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem