- Gundeshapur
Gundeshapur (Persian گندیشاپور, Gund-ī Shāh Pūr, Gondeshapur', Jondishapoor, Jondishapur, and Jondishapour, Gundishapur, Gondêšâpur, Jund-e Shapur, Jundê-Shâpûr, etc., Pahlavi Weh-Andiôk-ŠâbuhrFact|date=July 2007,
Syriac : Beth Lapat and Greek Bendosabora ["Ibid"] ) was the intellectual center of theSassanid empire and the home of the "Academy of Gundishapur ".Founded in 271 CE by the
Sassanid kingShapur I , Gondeshapur was home to the world's oldest known teaching hospital, and also comprised alibrary and auniversity . It has been identified with extensive ruins south of Shahabad, a village 14 km south-east ofDezful in the present-day province ofKhuzestan , southwestIran , not far from theKarun river.The Manichean prophet Mani's imprisonment and death are also said to have taken place in Gondeshapur.
The Rise of Gondeshapur
Gondeshapur was one of the major cities in
Khuzestan province of the Persian empire. The name Gondeshapur (Pahlavi "Gund-ī Shāpūr") comes from the compound term "Gund-ī Shāpur" "Army of Shapur". Most scholars believe Shāpur I, son of Ardeshir (Artaxexes), to have founded the city after defeating a Roman army led by Emperor Valerian.Shāpur II made Gondeshapur his capital. However, a few scholars believe that there may have been a city at this location under the Parthian dynasty of what is now
Iran proper andKhvarvaran province what is today known asIraq .In 489 CE, the
Nestorian theological and scientific center in Edessa was ordered closed by the Byzantine emperor Zeno, and transferred itself to become theSchool of Nisibis [ [http://www.ut.ac.ir/en/main-links/historical.htm University of Tehran Overview/Historical Events ] ] , also known as "Nisibīn, then under Persian rule with its secular faculties at Gundishapur, Khuzestan. Here, scholars, together with Pagan philosophers banished fromAthens byJustinian in 529, carried out important research in Medicine, Astronomy, and Mathematics". [Hill, Donald. "Islamic Science and Engineering". 1993. Edinburgh Univ. Press. ISBN 0-7486-0455-3, p.4]It was under the rule of the
Sassanid monarch Khusraw I (531-579 CE), called "Anushiravan" "The Immortal" and known to the Greeks and Romans as "Chosroes", that Gondeshapur became known for medicine and erudition. Khusraw I gave refuge to various Greekphilosopher s,Nestorian Assyrians fleeing religious persecution by theByzantine empire . The Sassanids had long battled the Romans and Byzantines for control of present dayIraq andSyria and were naturally disposed to welcome the refugees.The king commissioned the refugees to translate Greek and Syriac texts into
Pahlavi . They translated various works on medicine, astronomy, astrology, philosophy, and useful crafts. The philosophers are said to have been unhappy in Persia, however, and later returned to Greece."Anushiravan" also turned towards the east, and sent the famous physician Borzouye to invite Indian and Chinese scholars to Gondeshapur. These visitors translated Indian texts on astronomy, astrology, mathematics and medicine and Chinese texts on herbal medicine and religion. Borzouye is said to have himself translated the "Pañcatantra" from Sanskrit into Persian as "Kelile væ Demne".
Many
Syriacs settled in Gundeshapur during theFifth century . TheSyriacs were most of all medical doctors fromUrfa , which was during that time, home to the leading medical center. [http://rnb.uin.googlepages.com/v22n2spring2005.pdf]Gondeshapur Under Muslim Rule
The Sassanid dynasty fell to Muslim Arab armies in
638 CE . The academy survived the change of rulers and persisted for several centuries as a Muslim institute of higher learning. It was later rivaled by an institute established at theAbbasid capital ofBaghdad . In 832 CE,Caliph al-Ma'mūn founded the famous "Baytu l-Hikma", theHouse of Wisdom . There the methods of Gundishapur were emulated; indeed, the House of Wisdom was staffed with graduates of the older Academy of Gondeshapur. It is believed that the House of Wisdom was disbanded underAl-Mutawakkil , Al-Ma'mūn's successor. However, by that time the intellectual center of the Abbasid Caliphate had definitively shifted to Baghdad, as henceforth there are few references in contemporary literature to universities or hospitals at Gondeshapur.The significance of the center gradually declined. According to LeStrange's 1905 compendium of Arab geographers, "The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate", the 10th century writer Muqaddasi described Gondeshapur as falling into ruins (LeStrange, 1905, p. 238).
Notes
ources
* "The Cambridge History of Iran", Vol 4, ISBN 0-521-20093-8
* Dols, Michael W. "The origins of the Islamic hospital: myth and reality": 1987, 61: 367-90; review by: 1987, 61: 661-62
* Elgood, Cyril. "A medical history of Persia", Cambridge University Press, 1951.
* Frye, Richard Nelson. "The Golden Age of Persia", Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1993.
* Hau, Friedrun R. "Gondeschapur: eine Medizinschule aus dem 6. Jahrhundert n. Chr.," Gesnerus, XXXVI (1979), 98-115.
* Piyrnia, Mansoureh. "Salar Zanana Iran". 1995. Maryland: Mehran Iran Publishing.
*Hill, Donald. "Islamic Science and Engineering". 1993. Edinburgh Univ. Press. ISBN 0-7486-0455-3News reports
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,11711,1642348,00.html Farmers accused of plunder at ancient site] ,
The Guardian , 14 November, 2005.
* [http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=53008&NewsKind=CurrentAffairs Farmers plowing 1700 year Jondishapur history] , IranMania, 18 July 2007See also
* Science in Persia
*List of hospitals in Iran
*Contemporary Medicine in Iran
*School of Nisibis
*Sarouyeh
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