Gundeshapur
| |
The ruins of Gundeshapur | |
Gondeŝāhpur Shown within Iran | |
| Alternative name | Weh-Antiyok-Shapur |
|---|---|
| Location | Khuzestan Province, Iran |
| Region | 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, Assyrian, Greco-Roman |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
Gundeshapur (Middle Persian: 𐭥𐭧𐭩𐭠𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭥𐭪𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, 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.