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| institutions of higher learning from another time |
Learning and the desire to evolve mentally as well as spiritually are two aspects of human nature that separate us from other creatures of God’s creation. Cultures, civilizations, and countries that have encouraged learning have prospered and have enjoyed a golden period of prosperity. Even today, it is in countries that are enjoying peace and prosperity that one finds some of the best universities. Students from all over the world flock to Oxford, the Ivy League Universities, and colleges in Australia.
Today, we have universities existing in the virtual world, a massive progression in how easy it has become to access learning. Let us take a look at universities from all over the world, from a time far back in the past. These hallowed places of learning gave us inventors and discoverers on whose shoulders some of our most eminent modern thinkers, scientists, and philosophers have stood and contributed to take civilization forward.
1. Academy of Gondishapur
– This university in Iran during the 6th and 7th centuries A.D. was the pre-eminent center of learning in the Persia. It was established in 271 A.D. Those were the days of the Sassanid Empire, the last great pre-Islamic empire in Persia. Historians maintain that during its heyday, this university was the best center in the world for learning medicine; the university actually came into being as a center for medicine. In fact, the genesis of the hospital system of patient care is said to have originated from Persia. Apart from medicine, studies in astrology, theology, math, science, and literature flourished in Gondishapur.
2. Platonic Academy or The University of Athens
– Famous during its time as The Academy, this school was founded by a person no less than Plato. It came into being in 387 B.C and up till 83 B.C, when it was closed down; this school was the epicenter of learning and gave us stalwarts that have shaped human thought. Apart from its illustrious founder, another well-known name is that of Aristotle, who studied here for a good twenty years. The school contained the Sacred Grove of Athena and was so revered by all that even the Spartans, the sworn enemies of the Athenians, would not desecrate it during wartime.
3. University of Nalanda
– This was one of the grandest and greatest universities mankind has seen or will see rivaled perhaps only by the Takshshila University, which existed before it in what is today Pakistan. For seven hundred years, from 500 C.E, this center of learning in the Indian state of Bihar, attracted students and scholars from far corners of the world. The university reached its zenith under the Gupta kings till the 9th century C.E. The university was huge enough to accommodate 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers and it had a sprawling dormitory apart from a massive campus. The partially excavated ruins of the university cover 150,000 square meters and there’s still a lot of digging to do as almost 90% of the place is unexcavated.
4. University of Takshshila
– Takshshila is rooted in history. It is the site of what is known as the oldest authentic university. Located in Rawalpindi in Pakistan, the university was fantastically located in terms of attracting talent as well as information. The university was as the crossroads of what are today the Grand Trunk Road, the Silk Route, and the Northwest route. The university finds mention in documents of the 5th century BCE and is considerably older. Students entered the university aged 16 years and learnt the sacred texts, archery, hunting, warfare techniques, the sciences, language, astronomy, etc. In all there were eighteen subjects that were taught. Illustrious names associated with Takshshila that still shine through the mists of time include Chanakya the author of Arthshastra, emperor Chandragupt, and the physician Charak.
5. University of Alexandria
– The Mouseion or the University of Alexandria was alma mater to a personality no less than Archimedes as well as Euclid and Eratosthenes. Located in Egypt, the university boasted a massive library that contained much of the information that was known to man at that time – and the time we are talking about was 2,300 years ago. The university was known to have existed in Alexandria but no-one knew where. It was purely a fabled place that was thought to have been at the crossroads of cultures – eastern and western. Only in 2005 did archeologists crack the location of this university. The university in all probability was located in the royal quarters and flourished under royal patronage. The city was founded by Alexander the Great. Much of the scientific research that resulted in giant leaps for the western world and in some cases, mankind, came from the venerable denizens of the University of Alexandria.