our cozy little campus

Our school, Jerusalem University College, is nicely nestled into the side of Mount Zion overlooking the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna Valley). However, before the school was built, one of the walls of the Old City ran up to the property of the college and a watch tower stood where the school now stands. As a matter of fact, the school's office is built into the remains of the tower.

In 1853 Bishop Samuel Gobat opened a school for boys on Mount Zion and named it Bishop Gobat School, creative:). From 1853-1948 it functioned as a school in order to teach under-privileged Arab boys some basic education and a trade that they can implement in life.

In 1948 the war between the Arabs and the Israelis broke out and the school found itself meters away from the cross fires. The Israelis were forced out from the Jewish quarter of the Old City and the Arabs burnt the entire quarter down. Since the school was so close to the Jewish quarter, it became too dangerous to keep children there. So it stopped functioning as an educational institution and instead became a military base since it had a great vertical advantage. Although, some time during or after the war, the school became completely vacant. It remained that way until after the 6-Day War in 1967 where Israelis took back the property (they seized an area 3 times larger than what they had).

In 1967 Dr. Young, a professor from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, took the opportunity to make the desolate building into a school for international students. The American Institute for Holy Land Studies (founded in 1957) moved into the building on Mount Zion and has been there ever since, only changed its name. Dr. Young's goal for the school was to teach the Bible in the land of the Bible and in my opinion, his goal was surely achieved!

This is the school that we go to now. It's a beautiful small campus loaded with history. In its backyard it has the first (and perhaps only) Protestant Cemetery that has been around for over a hundred years. The college also has a 1st century tomb in one of the rooms. So in other words, a lot of dead people around here:) just kidding. But it is surely a campus unlike any other campus I have set foot on, and I think you may agree also. I know that these pictures simply don't do justice to the campus, nonetheless, here they are:

Courtyard between main building and cafeteria

Our student lounge, much like a cave

The picture below is the office. The thresh hold is the mountain itself, see that it's of a different color? 

This is the back yard. Through the arch is a garden and then the cemetery. 

Pomegranates, grapes and kumquats (little oranges that you eat with the peel on. Really good) grow in the garden. 

This gate is what leads to the Protestant Cemetery. It's a beautiful cemetery over looking the valley with many missionaries, reverends,  and other saints who have been laid to rest there.

 

The plot on the left is the burial site of Horatio Spafford who was a missionary and the author of the song, "It is well with my soul." He has an amazing life story, I encourage you to read about it. The picture on the right is the entrance to an apartment (is connected to the main building) which has a 1st century tomb in it. 

 *All information was obtained from staff at JUC*