TEHRAN - Work to restore Jundi Shapur University, an ancient academy in the southwestern city of Dezful, has begun, ISNA reported on Wednesday.

Jundi Shapur, also spelled as Gundi Shapur, was one of the world’s birthplaces of knowledge and wisdom, which is a source of national pride and enthusiasm for Iranians. Sources say that Dezful was an intellectual center of the Sassanid Empire (224–651), which offered education and training in medicine, philosophy, theology, and science.

The university was home to a teaching hospital and also comprised a library and a center of higher learning. It has been identified with extensive ruins south of Shahabad, a village 14 km southeast of Dezful, to the road for Shush, in the present-day Khuzestan province.

The town fell into decline after the Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654), the city surrendering in 638, however, it continued to remain an important center in the Muslim period. Yaqub Layth Saffari, the founder of the Saffarid dynasty, made Jundi Shapur his residence three years before his sudden death. His tomb became one of the most prominent sites in the city.

AM