Gundeshapur
| |
Iranian plateau | |
| Coordinates | 32°17′N 48°31′E / 32.283°N 48.517°E |
|---|---|
| Type | Settlement |
| Part of | Sasanian Empire |
| History | |
| Founded | 3rd-century CE |
| Periods | Late antiquity to Middle Ages |
| Cultures | Iranian, Aramaic, Greco-Roman |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
Gundeshapur (
It is not an organised archaeological place as of today, and except for ruins, it is full of remains like broken ceramics.
Despite the fame, recently some scholars have called Gundeshapur's overall historical importance, specifically, the existence of its hospital, into question.[1]
The town fell into decline after the
Name
The Middle Persian word Gondēšāpūr (or Gundēšāpūr) is a corrupted form. It may be from wandēw Šāpūr, means "acquired by Shapur",[3] or from Gund-dēz-i Shāpūr, means "military fortress of Shapur",[4][5] or from Weh-Andiyok-Shāpūr, "Better-than-Antioch of Shapur".
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.[7][8][9] Gundeshapur was one of the four main cities of the province, along with Susa, Karka d-Ledan, and Shushtar.[9] Gundeshapur was mainly inhabited by Christians, and served as the East-Syrian metropolitan see of Bet Huzaye.[8]
Most scholars believe
Shāpur's wife, the daughter of Aurelian, lived in the capital with him. She brought with her two Greek physicians who settled in the city and taught Hippocratic medicine.
In 489, the
It was under the rule of the
The emperor commissioned the refugees to translate Greek and
Anushiravan also turned towards the east, and sent the famous physician
Many
Gundeshapur under Arab-Islamic rule
Sassanid Persia fell to Arab-Islamic armies in 638 CE. The academy survived the change of rulers and persisted for several centuries, by projecting itself as a Muslim institute of higher learning. In 832 CE,
Gundeshapur had been major link between
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.[15]
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".[16] It has been assumed that a medical center at Gundeshapur would have resembled the School of Nisibis. What is more likely is there existed a seminary, like the one in Nisibis, where medical texts were read, and an infirmary, where medicine was practiced.[17]
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:
Thus, the people of Sūs [Susa] became the most skilled in medicine of the people of Ahwāz and Fārs because of their learning from the Indian doctor [who was brought to Susa by Shāhpūr I] and from the Greek prisoners who lived close to them; then [the medical knowledge] was handed down from generation to generation.[18]
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 enforced by the fact that Ahwāz and Fārs, mentioned in the quote for comparison to Susa, were regions as well, an indication that regions were being compared.
See also
- Academy of Gundeshapur
- Science in Persia
- List of hospitals in Iran
- School of Nisibis
- Sarouyeh
Further reading
- Elgood, Cyril (1951). A Medical History of Persia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Hau, Friedrun R. (1979). "Gondeschapur: eine Medizinschule aus dem 6. Jahrhundert n. Chr". Gesnerus. XXXVI (1–2): 98–115. .
- Piyrnia, Mansoureh. Salar Zanana Iran. Maryland: Mehran Iran Publishing, 1995.
Notes
- ^ Dols (1987)
- ^ Alireza Shapour Shahbazi; Lutz Richter-Bernburg. GONDĒŠĀPUR.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "Gondēshāpūr" in Encyclopaedia of Islam
- ^ "GONDĒŠĀPUR" in Encyclopædia Iranica
- ISBN 978-0-521-56496-0.
- ^ Thomas A. Carlson et al., "Beth Lapaṭ — ܒܝܬ ܠܦܛ " in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified January 14, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/35.
- ^ Jalalipour 2015, p. 11.
- ^ a b Fiori 2015.
- ^ a b Shahbazi & Richter-Bernburg 2002, pp. 131–135.
- ^ University of Tehran Overview/Historical Events Archived 2011-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hill (1993), p. 4
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Frye (1975b), p. 397
- ^ Frye (1975b), pp. 388–389
- ^ Alireza Shapour Shahbazi; Lutz Richter-Bernburg. GONDĒŠĀPUR.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Dols (1987), p. 369
- ^ Dols (1987), p. 377
- ^ Dols (1987), p. 378
References
- Dols, Michael W. (1987). "The Origins of the Islamic Hospital: Myth and Reality". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 61 (3): 367–391. PMID 3311248.
- Fiori, Emiliano (2015). "Jundīshāpūr". In Fleet, Kate; ISSN 1873-9830.
- Frye, Richard Nelson(1975a). The Golden Age of Persia. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
- Frye, Richard Nelson, ed. (1975b). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Hill, Donald (1993). Islamic Science and Engineering. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Jalalipour, Saeid (2015). "The Arab Conquest of Persia: The Khūzistān Province before and after the Muslims Triumph" (PDF). Sasanika.
- McDonough, Scott (2011). "The Legs of the Throne: Kings, Elites, and Subjects in Sasanian Iran". In Arnason, Johann P.; Raaflaub, Kurt A. (eds.). The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. pp. 290–321. ISBN 978-1-4443-9018-6.
- Shahbazi, A. Shapur; Richter-Bernburg, Lutz (2002). "Gondēšāpur". In ISBN 978-0-933273-62-7.