Academy of Gundishapur
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Academy of Gundishapur (in , Dânešgâh Gondišâpur) was a renowned academy of learning in the city of
Gundeshapur during
late antiquity, the intellectual center of the
Sassanid empire. It offered training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science. The faculty were versed not only in the Zoroastrian and Persian traditions, but in Greek and Indian learning as well. According to
The Cambridge History of Iran, it was the most important medical center of the ancient world (defined as Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Near East) during the 6th and 7th centuries.
(1)History
In 489 CE, the
Nestorian theological and scientific center in
Edessa was ordered closed by the
Byzantine emperor Zeno, and transferred itself to become the
School of Nisibis (2), also known as "
Nisibīn, then under Persian rule with its secular faculties at Gundishapur,
Khuzestan. Here, scholars, together with Pagan philosophers banished from
Athens by
Justinian in 529, carried out important research in Medicine, Astronomy, and Mathematics".
(3)However, it was under the rule of the Sassanid emperor
Khosrau I (531-579 CE), called
Anushiravan literally "Immortal Soul" and known to the Greeks and Romans as
Chosroes, that Gondeshapur became known for medicine and erudition.
Khosrau I gave refuge to various Greek
philosophers, Syriac-speaking Christians and
Nestorians fleeing religious persecution by the
Byzantine empire. The Sassanids had long battled the Romans and Byzantines for control of present day
Iraq and
Syria 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, 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
Kalila u Dimana.
Significance of Gondeshapur
According to
Cyril Elgood in
A Medical History of Persia:
"to a very large extent, the credit for the whole hospital system must be given to Persia"
(4).
In addition to systemizing medical treatment and knowledge, the scholars of the academy also transformed medical education; rather than apprenticing with just one physician, medical students were required to work in the hospital under the supervision of the whole medical faculty. There is even evidence that graduates had to pass exams in order to practice as accredited Gondeshapur physicians (as recorded in an Arabic text, the
Tarikhu l-Ħikama).
George Ghevarghese Joseph, in his
Crest of the Peacock (5) confirms that Gondeshapur also had a pivotal role in the history of mathematics.
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 the
Abbasid capital of
Baghdad. In
832 CE,
Caliph al-Ma'mūn founded the famous
Baytu l-Hikma, the
House 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 under
Al-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).
Famous Physicians of Gondeshapur
- Borzoye, chief physician of Khusraw I.
- Bukhtishu, a Nestorian Persian Christian.
- Masawaiyh, a Nestorian Persian Christian.
- Sarakhsi, Ahmad Tayyeb, died 900 CE.
- Sahl, Shapur ibn. a Nestorian Persian Christian. Wrote one of the first medical books on antidotes, titled the Aqrabadhin.
- Nafi ibn al-Harith (E. Browne, Islamic Medicine, 2002, p.11, ISBN 81-87570-19-9)
Modern Gondeshapur
missing image!
- Talat basari.jpg -
Soon after the founding of the modern school of Jondishapur, Dr. Tal'at Basāri was appointed vice chancellor of the university, the first woman to reach such a post in any university in Iran.
Under the
Pahlavi dynasty, the heritage of Gondeshapur was memorialized by the founding of the
Jondishapour University and its twin institution
Jondishapur University of Medical Sciences, near the city of
Ahvaz in 1959.
weblinkweblink The latter-day Jondishapour University of Medical Sciences was founded and named after its Sassanid predecessor, by its founder and first Chancellor,
Dr. Mohammad Kar, Father of
Cyrus Kar, in Ahvaz in 1959.Jondishapur University was renamed to
Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in 1981 in honor of
Mostafa Chamran. It has been renamed again as
Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences recently, websites:
weblink weblink on the fact that Jundishapur University was founded by the Iranian King Shapur I more than 2200 years ago, it is the most ancient University in the history of mankind.The first woman ever to be appointed as vice-chancellor in a university in Iran,
Dr. Tal'at Basāri, was appointed at this university in the mid 1960s, and starting 1968, plans for the modern campus were designed by famed architect
Kamran Diba weblink.Ancient Gondeshapur is also slated for an archaeological investigation. Experts from the Archaeological Research Center of
Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization and the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago plan to start excavations in early
2006 weblink.
Notes
-
[Vol 4, p396. ISBN 0-521-20093-8]
-
[University of Tehran Overview/Historical Events]
-
[Hill, Donald. Islamic Science and Engineering. 1993. Edinburgh Univ. Press. ISBN 0-7486-0455-3, p.4]
-
[Cambridge University Press, p. 173]
-
[Princeton University Press, 2000]
Sources
- 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 0-7486-0455-3
External links
See also
Akademie von GundishapurگندیشاپورAcadémie de Gundishapurგუნდიშაფურის აკადემიაAcademie van GondesjapoerGundishapurin akatemiaGundishapurakademinGundeşapur Akademisi
(...as imported from WP)
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