Givat Ram

Givat Ram () is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem. It is the site of Kiryat HaMemshala (Hebrew: קריית הממשלה, ''lit.'' Government complex), which includes many of Israel's most important national institutions, among them the Knesset (Israel's parliament), the Israel Museum (as well as the private Bible Lands Museum), the Supreme Court, Bank of Israel, Academy of the Hebrew Language, National Library, one of the campuses of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and many government ministries' offices.

Etymology

Two versions:

# ''Ram'' is a Hebrew acronym for Rikuz Mefakdim – , lit. ''officers' assembly'', therefore Giv'at Ram means ''Officers' assembly hill''.
# ''Ram'' is a Hebrew acronym for Rehavia Hamurhevet – , lit. expansion of Rehavia, and there are maps and over evidence for the efforts to build this neighborhood in the 40's.

History

Before 1948, maps of the area drawn by the Survey of Palestine team tagged it as Karam es Sila. The name indicates it was a ''karam'' (grape field) belonging to the Sala (שלה might be originally סלע or سلع) family or the grape field near stone quarries.

Before the 1947–1949 Arab-Israeli war, the area in the north was known by the Arabs as Sheikh Badr. In December 1949, the Israeli government, headed by David Ben-Gurion, passed a resolution to build a government precinct in Jerusalem. Givat Ram, a hill in the west of the city, which had been an assembly point for the Gadna Youth Battalions, was chosen for this purpose. The topography of the site was made up of three ridges, meshed with the idea of establishing three clusters of buildings – the government precinct, a university campus and a museum. The Knesset, Israeli government offices, and the Israeli Supreme Court are located in Givat Ram, as are cultural landmarks such as the Israel Museum, the Bible Lands Museum, the Bloomfield Science Museum, a campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the National Library of Israel, and Binyanei HaUma - The National Convention Center.
The northern part of the neighborhood, between the convention center and the university, where the government ministries are clustered, is officially known as Kiryat HaLeom. A new apartment project, Mishkenot Ha’uma, is being built in this area. The Wohl Rose Garden is also located in the neighborhood.

High-Tech village

The Givat Ram High-Tech Village was established jointly by the Jerusalem Development Authority and the Hebrew University. It is one of the first high tech parks in Israel built in proximity to centers of academic research. It provides a starting base for technological start-up companies.

Archaeological findings

The first salvage excavation was conducted before Binyanei HaUma was built, in July- August 1949, by M. Avi-Yonah, who unearthed hewn installations, cisterns and pools of various sizes dating to the Herodian period, bricks and tiles bearing stamps of the Tenth Roman Legion, and the remains of a monastery.

In May–June 1968, before a new hotel (then the Hilton) was built south of Binyanei HaUma, Avi-Yonah conducted a second salvage excavation. He found remains of an oval-shaped potter's kiln, a preparation area for clay, and a deep water cistern. The area had been covered by a thick layer of plaster upon which were found large mortaria and many bricks, some bearing stamps of the Tenth Legion.

During the work on a new international convention center east of Binyanei HaUma, a large salvage excavation was conducted in April–September 1992 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, but roughly 60% of the parking lot area had already been dug up by bulldozers.

In July 1993, a small excavation in the northwestern corner dismantled kilns of the Tenth Legion and lifted a mosaic floor of the Byzantine period.

Photo gallery

File:Israel museum.JPG, Aerial photograph of the Israel Museum, with the Knesset in the background
File:Israel Supreme Court.jpg, Supreme Court of Israel, with the Knesset on the background
File:Hutz.JPG, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the Bank of Israel in the background
File:The knesset illuminated.jpg, Knesset at Dusk
File:WikiAir IL-13-06 020 - Givat Ram.JPG, Aerial view of Givat Ram

See also

*Kiryat HaMemshala
* Sheikh Bader cemetery or Givat Ram cemetery, Jewish Israeli cemetery used between 1948–1951

References

File:WikiAir_IL-13-06_020_-_Givat_Ram.JPG, 500px, center, Aerial view of Givat Ram, August 2013. This image has annotations. Move the mouse pointer over the image to see them.
circle 1599 816 269 Hebrew University Stadium
poly 1837 1584 1818 1808 2046 1900 2046 1686 1910 1575 Academy of the Hebrew Language
poly 19 1113 539 1541 49 1832 10 1842 5 1113 Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance
poly 2362 39 2887 258 2673 481 1988 233 Knesset
rect 3713 622 3873 797 Monastery of the Cross
poly 3499 248 3003 165 2668 588 3849 1128 3883 467 Valley of the Cross
poly 505 1055 603 1205 899 1094 758 923 National Library of Israel
poly 2163 0 2143 87 1949 194 1788 194 1580 185 1468 122 1317 34 1273 0 Wohl Rose Park
circle 2746 880 39 Shrine of the Book
poly 2610 885 2795 1016 2717 1064 2595 1021 2537 967 2542 889 Holyland Model of Jerusalem
poly 2158 637 2168 758 2406 778 2406 666 Bible Lands Museum
poly 1628 262 1633 374 1754 360 1944 292 1915 204 Ministry of Finance
poly 1492 151 1507 238 1230 311 1215 209 Ministry of Interior
poly 1108 19 870 83 821 5 1074 0 Bank of Israel
poly 384 185 326 447 29 544 194 194 Hebrew University Secondary School
poly 413 272 394 413 622 374 642 253 American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
poly 1147 335 1094 433 1361 501 1429 374 Bloomfield Science Museum
poly 2085 1152 3703 2561 3208 2561 2556 1818 2479 1808 1978 1142 Jerusalem Botanical Gardens
poly 258 1025 292 1098 462 1021 433 943 The Racah Institute of Physics
poly 544 10 471 156 792 228 1745 394 2245 433 2537 510 2692 530 2867 530 3018 505 3149 471 3135 394 2338 0 Kiryat HaMemshala
poly 24 583 724 389 1895 729 2036 1108 3708 2566 539 2561 Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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desc bottom-left

{{Coord, 31.78, N, 35.20, E, scale:20000, display=title

Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem