Iranian Medicine during the Sassanian Empire (224 CE – 651 CE)

The Academy of Gondishapur was one of the three Sassanian Empire centers for education and learning. It offered training in medicine, philosophy, theology, and science. According to the Cambridge History of Iran, it was the most important medical center in the ancient world during the sixth and seventh centuries.

Gondishapur physicians were required to pass special examinations to obtain a license for practicing medicine. A director, medical staff, pharmacists, and servants operated this well-organized medical institute. Upon its entrance was engraved, “Knowledge and virtue are superior to sword and strength.” The Nestorian physician Jabrail ibn Bakhtishu was the head of the Jundaishapur Gondishapur University. He was later charged with building the first hospital (Bimarestan or Maristan) in the city based on the Syro-Persian model already established at Jundaishapur Gondishapur.

The Sassanid Empire traditional territory included all of today Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, India (in addition to Pakistan), Caucasia (the area of present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia), Central Asia, Egypt, and Arabia.

Persia influenced Roman civilization considerably during the Sassanids' times. Persian cultural influence continued to extend far beyond the empire’s territorial borders during the Sassanid Empire as well, reaching as far as western Europe, Africa, China, and India (regions that were not under Persian rule) and playing a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asiatic medieval art.

This influence carried forward to the early Islamic world. The Iranian dynasty’s unique, aristocratic culture transformed the Islamic nations into a Persian renaissance. Much of what later became known as Islamic culture (Iranians wrote everything in Arabic due to love of Islam and the Quran), architecture, writing, and other skills were borrowed mainly from the Sassanid Persians and propagated throughout the broader Muslim world.