Geographical History of Israel's Cities Quiz

Answer: Mount Giloh

Mount Giloh is situated at the southern edge of the city. It is roughly 860 meters tall at its highest peak. This is over 30 meters taller than Mount Herzl and Mount Scopus, and over 100 meters taller than the Temple Mount. Jerusalem's largest neighbourhood, also named Giloh, sits along the ridge. On some occasions, it may snow in Giloh but not the rest of the city.

Answer: A city

At the turn of the 20th century, Haifa was a small town of roughly 20,000. An influx of Jewish settlers, along with natural demographic increase of the local Arab population, culminated in almost 150,000 residents by 1948, almost equally divided between the two ethnic groups. Following a series of bloody massacres by both sides during the 1947-1949 war, the vast majority of Arabs fled the city. Haifa eventually became a mixed city, and the third-largest city in Israel.

Answer: The Philistines

The Philistines were a sea-going people, presumably descended from Mycenean Greeks. For centuries they were a bitter enemy of the Hebrews, and the conflict gave rise to legends such as that of David and Goliath, and of the mighty Samson. After the Romans destroyed the Kingdom of Judea, they turned the entire land into a province of Rome named "Syria Palaestina", later known as "Palestine". Of the five ancient Philistine cities, four are today the sites of new Israeli cities, including Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gat, and Ekron.

The fifth Philistine city is Gaza.

Answer: Tiberius

And the city is of course named "Tiberias". The city remained very influential all through to the end of the Judean period, and housed the legislative council of the Jewish people (called the "Sanhedrin") from 150 AD to 358 AD. From that point on, Jewish presence in the city declined, but Jews lived there all the way up to modern times, alongside a growing Arab population.

After 1948 it became a predominantly Jewish city, although former Arab residents and those whose ancestors fled in 1948 have made many petitions to regain their lands and assets there.

Answer: "Shalom Me'ir" Department Store Tower

The train passing from Jaffa to Jerusalem was designed to go past the Gymnasia High School, so that passengers would look with awe at this great marvel of the "First Hebrew City". Unfortunately, Tel-Aviv has since undergone some major changes, and for some reason the administration decided that a large, ungainly tower was a suitable replacement for the school's beautiful architectonics. "Shalom" tower was the tallest structure in Tel-Aviv for more than a decade, after which it was periodically dwarfed by several other nearby office towers. Demolition and replacement of important historical monuments in Tel-Aviv became commonplace during the 1990's, and continued to increase well into the new century.

Answer: Gihon

The Gihon emerges into a pool called Silwan ("Siloam" in Greek, "Shiloah" in Hebrew), and the people of the Old City would go down to the pool to collect water there. It is situated south-east of the Old City. An old tunnel connects the walled city to the pool, and in the early 19th century an archaeologist found an ancient Hebrew inscription within the tunnel, dated to the 8th century BC! Jerusalem still receives most of its water from a utility company called "Ha-Gihon", but the water is really collected in various places around the city. Silwan is now an Arab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.

Answer: Um-Rashrash

The area where Eilat was established was part of the future Jewish State as agreed upon by the United Nations' Partition Plan in 1947, intended to provide the new state with access to the Red Sea. Perhaps the United Nations anticipated that the Jewish State would have no proper land connection to the rest of the world. To this day, Eilat remains an important port for commercial traffic to Israel.

However, with the peace treaties that were signed (Separately) with Egypt and Jordan, Eilat now thrives as a tourist town, alongside Jordanian Akaba and Egyptian Taba, all three lined up around the bay at the northern edge of the Red Sea.

Answer: Jabotinsky

In fact, several streets in Gush Dan do so. Jabotinsky Avenue runs through Giv'atayim, Bnei-Brak, and Petakh Tikva. Depending on perspective, it may also be said to run into Tel-Aviv. Most streets coming into Tel-Aviv from the east pass over the No. 2 Highway (known as "Ayalon Road"), which connects the city proper with other adjacent cities to the north and south. Through the greater part of the 20th Century, Gush-Dan held the largest residential population in Israel.

Answer: Amman, Capital of Jordan

Kiryat Shmona is at almost exactly equal distance from Damascus, Beirut, Afula, and Haifa, around 75km (45 miles) from each of these. Amman is much further away, close to Jerusalem. Kiryat Shmona's precarious position means that it often comes under attack from Israel's various enemies across these borders.

It has seen artillery shellings, rocket attacks, and terror attacks. Kiryat Shmona's residents are well-drilled in seeking the nearest shelter, and were forced to stay underground for a whole month during the 2006 "Second Lebanon War".

Answer: Light Rail

The bridge was designed to carry Jerusalem's new Light Rail (still under construction) over the highway that leads in and out of the city. Local newspapers criticized former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupoliansky for his decision to dedicate such a large amount of money for the project, instead of spending it to revive the city's cultural and commercial centers. In late 2008, upon his election, the new Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, made only a vague promise to remove the bridge and use its materials for other construction projects. At the time of completion, the bridge's mast was the tallest structure in Jerusalem, surpassing the adjacent "Crown Plaza" tower by several dozen feet (when measured from the ground).

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