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Gundeshapur (, Weh-Andiōk-Ŝābuhr; New Persian: گندیشاپور, Gondēshāpūr) was the intellectual centre of the Sasanian Empire founded by the Sasanian emperor Shapur I. Gundeshapur was home to a teaching hospital and had a library and an ancient higher-learning institution, the Academy of Gondishapur. It has been identified with extensive ruins south of Jandi Shapur, a village 14 km southeast of Dezful, along the road to Shushtar in Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran.
The city declined after the Muslim conquest of Persia; the city surrendered in 638. It continued to remain an essential centre in the Islamic period. Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar, the founder of the Saffarid dynasty, made Gundeshapur his residence three years before his sudden death in 879. His tomb became one of the most prominent sites in the city.
In Syriac language, the town was called ܒܝܬ ܠܦܛ Bēth LapaṭThomas A. Carlson et al., "Beth Lapaṭ — ܒܝܬ ܠܦܛ " in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified January 14, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/35. sometimes rendered as Bethlapeta in English, in Greek language Bendosabora; and in .
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.
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 Eastern Christian theological and scientific center in Edessa was ordered closed by the Byzantine Empire Zeno, and relocated as the School of Nisibis University of Tehran Overview/Historical Events 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 Panchatantra 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 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.
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.
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