Gundeshapur

The Middle Persian word Gondēšāhpūr (or Gonde Šāhpur) may be from the Persian expression wandēw Šāhpur, means "acquired by Shapur", or from Gund-dēz-ī Shāpūr, means "military fortress of Shapur", or from Weh-Andiyok-Shāpūr, "Better-than-Antioch of Shapur". It is known as Gondēshāpūr () in New Persian. In Syriac, the town was called Bēth Lapaṭ, sometimes rendered as Bethlapeta in English, in Greek Bendosabora; and in . ==The rise of Gundeshapur==

After his conquest of the Roman city of Antioch in 256, the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) Shapur I founded the city of Gundeshapur, situated between Susa and Shushtar. The city, constructed as a place to settle Roman prisoners of war, subsequently became a Sasanian royal winter residence and the capital of the Khuzistan province. Gundeshapur was one of the four main cities of the province, along with Susa, Karka d-Ledan, and Shushtar. Gundeshapur was mainly inhabited by Christians, and served as the East-Syrian metropolitan see of Bet Huzaye. Most scholars believe Shāpur I, son of Ardashir I (Artaxexes), founded the city after defeating a Roman army led by Emperor Valerian. Gundeshapur was a garrison town and housed many Roman prisoners of war. Shāpur I made Gundeshapur his capital. In 489, the Eastern Christian theological and scientific center in Edessa was ordered closed by the Byzantine emperor Zeno, and relocated as the School of Nisibis or Nisibīn, then under Persian rule with its secular faculties at Gundeshapur. Here, scholars, together with pagan philosophers banished from Athens by Justinian I in 529, carried out significant research in medicine, astronomy, and mathematics". Under the rule of Emperor Khosrow I (531-579), called Anushiravan "The Immortal" and known to the Greeks and Romans as 'Chosroes', Gundeshapur became known for medicine and erudition. Khusraw I gave refuge to various Greek philosophers and Eastern Christian Assyrians fleeing religious persecution by the Byzantine Empire. The emperor commissioned the refugees to translate Greek and Syriac texts into Middle Persian. They translated various works on medicine, astronomy, astrology, philosophy, and practical crafts. Anushiravan also turned eastwards and sent the famous physician Borzuya to invite Indian and Chinese scholars to Gundeshapur. These visitors translated Indic texts on astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and medicine, as well as Chinese texts on herbal medicine and religion. Borzouye is said to have himself translated the still popular Indic Pañcatantra from Sanskrit into New Persian as Kalīla wa-Dimna. Many Assyrians settled in Gundeshapur during the fifth century. The Assyrians were primarily physicians from Urfa, which was, at that time, home to the leading medical center. Teaching in the Academy of Gundeshapur was done in Syriac until the city fell in the early Muslim conquests, which destroyed the city and places of learning. == Gundeshapur under Arab-Islamic rule ==

The Sasanian Empire fell to the Rashidun Caliphate in 638. The academy survived the change of rulers and continued to operate for several centuries as a Muslim institution of higher learning. In 832, Caliph Al-Ma'mun founded the House of Wisdom. There, the methods of Gundeshapur were emulated, as the House of Wisdom was staffed with graduates of the older Academy of Gundeshapur, who had been heavily trained in Indic, as well as some Greek and Iranian medical traditions. It is believed that the House of Wisdom was disbanded under al-Mutawakkil, al-Ma'mūn's successor, who felt learning conflicted with the information given in the Quran. In addition, the intellectual center of the Abbasid Caliphate had shifted to the Arab stronghold of Baghdad, and henceforth there are few references in contemporary literature to universities or hospitals at Gundeshapur. Gundeshapur had been major link between Indian and Greek medicine because of its previous practices of combining the medical traditions, therefore the transition from earlier ancient civilisations to later Islamic appropriation was more coherent. The last attested head of the Gundeshapur hospital was Sābur bin Sahl, who died in 869. The fate of the hospital after this is unknown. == Recent academic doubts ==

Some scholars have cast doubts on the existence of the hospital at Gundeshapur by claiming that there are no known surviving Persian sources "that would corroborate the claims that [Gundeshapur] played a crucial role in medical history". It has been assumed that a medical center at Gundeshapur would have resembled the School of Nisibis. What is more likely is that there was a seminary like the one in Nisibis where medical texts were read, and an infirmary, where medicine was practiced. Additionally, Gundeshapur's reputation may have been conflated with that of Susa, a city to the west of Gundeshapur and with which Gundesahur was administratively linked. Ath-Tha'ālibi, a scholar with access to Sassanian royal annals, discussing pre-Islamic Persia, wrote: On the other hand, the same source might be another confirmation of the medical reputation of Gundeshapur, as Susa may represent the whole local region, which included Gundeshapur (as they were administratively linked). This is supported by the fact that Ahwāz (Khuzestan) and Fārs (now Fars province), mentioned. == See also ==