Lord Balfour inaugurating the New Hebrew University at Jerusalem (b/w photo)

Lord Balfour inaugurating the New Hebrew University at Jerusalem. The inauguration of the new Hebrew University by Lord Balfour on 1 April 1925, was a milestone in the development of the New Palestine under the auspices of the British mandate. As Lord Balfour said in his inaugural speech: "A new epoch has begun. The great effort within Palestine, which came to an end so many hundreds of years ago, is going to be resumed in the ancient home of the people. . . . We are now engaged in adopting Western methods and a Western form of University to an Eastern site and education in an Eastern language." The ceremony took place on the slopes of Mount Scopas just below the new University buildings. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson, c.1920).