Gundeshapur
| Persian: گندیشاپور | |
 Shown within Iran
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| Location | Iran |
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| Region | Khuzestan Province |
| Coordinates | 32°17′N 48°31′E / 32.283°N 48.517°ECoordinates: 32°17′N 48°31′E / 32.283°N 48.517°E |
Gondēshāpūr was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire and the home of the Academy of Gundishapur, founded by Sassanid king Shapur I. Gundeshapur was home to a teaching hospital and had a library and a centre of higher learning. It has been identified with extensive ruins south of Shahabad, a village 14 km south-east of Dezful, to the road for Shush, in the present-day province of Khuzestan, southwest Iran.
It is not an organised archaeological place as of today, and except for ruins, it is full of remainings like broken ceramics.
Despite the fame, recently, some scholars have called Gundeshapur's overall historical importance, specifically, the existence of its hospital, into question.
Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher, educator and founder of anthroposophy, pointed out the role Gondishapur (or Gundishapur) played in world history. In essence, Steiner saw the culture of Gondishapur as a premature efflorescence which was (necessarily) destroyed by the Islamic hordes in the 7th Century.
The Middle Persian word Gondēšāpūr (or Gundēšāpūr) is a corrupted form. It may be from wandēw Šāpūr, means "acquired by Shapur", or from Gund-dēz-i Shāpūr, means "military fortress of Shapur", or from Weh-Andiyok-Shāpūr, "Better than Antioch of Shapur".
In Classical Syriac, the town was called ܒܝܬ ܠܦܛ Bēth Lapaṭ; in Greek Bendosabora; in Arabic: جنديسابور Jundaysābūr; and in New Persian: گندیشاپور.
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