Ishtartv.com - syriacpress.com

 27/07/2025

In the dusty plains of southwestern Iran, far from the familiar centers of classical scholarship like Athens and Alexandria, once stood a university so advanced, so inclusive, and so transformative that it could rival the greatest academic institutions of any era. This was Gundishapur University, an ancient seat of learning that flourished under the Persian Sassanian Empire and left behind a legacy that shaped not only Islamic civilization but the very foundations of modern medical education. 

A City Built on Tolerance and Intellect

Founded in the 3rd century CE by Shapur I, the Sassanian emperor, Gundishapur began as a strategic city where captured Roman engineers and intellectuals were resettled after military victories. From its inception, the city was marked by a blend of civilizations—Greek, Persian, Roman, Indian, and later Christian Syriac—fostering a unique environment where cross-cultural dialogue was not only accepted, but actively encouraged. 

It was during the reign of Khosrow I (531–579 CE)—known to history as Anushiravan the Just—that Gundishapur truly became a global center of learning. Khosrow, a philosopher-king in the truest sense, invited scholars from across the known world: Nestorian Christian doctors fleeing persecution in Byzantium, Greek philosophers exiled from Athens, and Indian mathematicians and astronomers who brought manuscripts of Ayurvedic medicine and Buddhist cosmology. Here, they worked together, translated each other’s works, and created a new intellectual synthesis that would ripple across continents. 

The Birthplace of Modern Medical Education

What set Gundishapur apart from other ancient centers of learning was not only the diversity of its disciplines—ranging from medicine and astronomy to philosophy and theology—but also its structure and system. For the first time in recorded history, Gundishapur combined a teaching hospital with a medical school, introducing clinical education in which students learned by observing patients under the guidance of experienced physicians. 

This model—structured, scientific, and supervised—became the blueprint for later Islamic hospitals in Baghdad, Cairo, and Córdoba, and eventually found echoes in European medical institutions during the Renaissance. Gundishapur was also home to an immense library, containing translations from Sanskrit, Greek, Syriac, and Middle Persian—estimated to have housed hundreds of thousands of volumes. It was, without exaggeration, the world’s first full-scale academic medical center. 

In Gundishapur, the medical works of Galen (d. 200 AD) were recognized as medical authority. Galen’s treatises formed the official curriculum for medical study in Alexandria. According to De Lacy O’Leary (“How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs”), this curriculum was reproduced at Gundishapur and Syriac versions were prepared for the use of Syriac-speaking students. Many Syriac translations of Galen’s treatises were made by Sergius of Rashayn (Rish Ayno) but were afterwards revised or renewed by Hunayn ibn Ishaq and his companions in Baghdad’s House of Wisdom. This translation into Syriac preceded the preparation of Arabic versions, but went on for some time side by side with translation into Arabic.

The introduction of Greek philosophy (e.g. the logic of Aristotle), mainly by Nestorian Syriacs, was part of the curriculum at Gundishapur. After the conquests by the Arabs, it influenced the later Arabic speaking scientific world. 

A Philosophy of Inclusion

Unlike many of its contemporaries, Gundishapur was not built upon religious exclusivity. Zoroastrians, Christians (Nestorians), Jews, pagans, and later Muslims studied side by side. The academy’s guiding principle was that truth belonged to no single person or people. Knowledge, they believed, was a divine gift, and scholars were merely its stewards—obligated to share, improve, and protect it. 

This humanistic ethos is perhaps Gundishapur’s most enduring legacy. Long before the modern world debated the merits of multicultural education, Gundishapur practiced it—proving that diversity is not a barrier to excellence, but its catalyst. 

Influence Beyond the Sassanian Empire 

Though Gundishapur began to decline following the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century, its intellectual seed was carried east and west. Many of its scholars joined the newly established House of Wisdom in Baghdad, where the Abbasid caliphs promoted translation, scientific discovery, and philosophical inquiry. There, Gundishapur’s traditions mingled with new Islamic thought, giving rise to what historians call the Islamic Golden Age. 

The ripple effects continued. Concepts in pharmacology, surgery, ophthalmology, and even hospital administration that originated in Gundishapur traveled with Arab and Persian physicians to Europe via Spain and Sicily. Gundishapur may have faded from memory, but its knowledge quietly shaped the future of global science. 

A Modern Revival—and a Missed Opportunity

In 1955, the Iranian government attempted to revive this legacy by founding the Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in nearby Ahvaz. Though the new university operates under a different political and religious landscape, it draws symbolic lineage from the ancient academy. Yet, despite this institutional revival, Gundishapur remains vastly underappreciated in the global narrative of education and innovation. 

It is time to correct that. Gundishapur deserves a place alongside Alexandria, Nalanda, and Baghdad’s House of Wisdom. Its story should be taught not only as a historical curiosity but as a timeless reminder of what is possible when empires invest in intellect, embrace diversity, and build institutions not on ideology, but on inquiry. 

Lessons for Today

In a world fractured by division, where knowledge is too often politicized and multiculturalism questioned, Gundishapur offers an ancient yet urgent message: that true progress requires openness, curiosity, and the freedom to learn across boundaries. 

It is the responsibility of today’s educators, scholars, and leaders to revive not only the name of Gundishapur, but its spirit. In doing so, we may yet recover a model of civilization where compassion, reason, and shared knowledge guide humanity forward.