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Ancient Higher-learning Institutions
A variety of ancient higher-learning institutions were developed in many cultures to provide institutional frameworks for scholarly activities. These ancient centres were sponsored and overseen by courts; by religious institutions, which sponsored cathedral schools, monastic schools, and madrasas; by scientific institutions, such as museums, hospitals, and observatories; and by certain scholars. They are distinct from the Western-style university, an autonomous organization of scholars that originated in medieval Europe and have been adopted in other regions in modern times (see list of oldest universities in continuous operation). Africa North Africa Egypt Ancient Egyptians established an organization of higher learning – the Per Ânkh, which means the "House of Life" – in 2000 BCE. In the third century BCE, amid the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Serapeum, Mouseion, and Library of Alexandria served as organizations of higher learning in Alexandria. In Cairo, Al-A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Azhar University
The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic learning. In addition to higher education, Al-Azhar oversees a national network of schools with approximately two million students. over 4,000 teaching institutes in Egypt were affiliated with the university. Founded in 970 or 972 by the Fatimid Caliphate as a centre of Islamic learning, its students studied the Qur'an and Islamic law, along with logic, grammar, rhetoric, and how to calculate the phases of the moon. Today it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic studies, Islamic learning in the world. In 1961 additional non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum. Its library is considered second in importance in Egypt only to the Egyptian National Library and Archives. In May 2005, Al-Azhar in partnership with a D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pushpagiri Vihara
Pushpagiri ( Odia: ପୁଷ୍ପଗିରି) was an ancient Indian mahavihara or monastic complex located atop Langudi Hill (or Hills) in Jajpur district of Odisha, India. Pushpagiri was mentioned in the writings of the Chinese traveller Xuanzang () and some other ancient sources. Until the 1990s, it was hypothesised to be one or all of the Lalitgiri- Ratnagiri- Udayagiri group of monastic sites, also located in Jajpur district. These sites contain ruins of many buildings, stupas of various sizes, sculptures (many now removed to museums), and other artifacts. However, archaeological excavations conducted at Langudi Hills during 1996-2006 resulted in the discovery of another site, with inscriptions describing the local monastery as ''puṣpa sabhar giriya'', and identified by the excavators as Pushpagiri. This has now become the general view among scholars. The site has now been made accessible for tourism. The visit of Xuanzang indicates that Pushpagiri was an important ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahavihara
Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar) and Bengal. According to Tibetan sources, five great mahaviharas stood out during the Pāla period: Vikramashila, the premier university of the era; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious, Somapura, Odantapurā, and Jaggadala. The five monasteries formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" and there existed "a system of co-ordination among them . . it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them. Nalanda The famous Nalanda Mahavihara was founded a few centuries earli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ella Amida
Ousanas (fl. 320), known as Ella Allada or Ella Amida in Eritrean and Ethiopian tradition, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum in the 320s AD. Some historians believe that Christianity was introduced into Aksum during his reign. Little is known about his life, but he may have invaded and imposed tribute upon Nubia, and he may have had a "relatively long reign". His reign may have been briefly interrupted by the usurper Wazeba. Stuart Munro-Hay believes that it is "very likely" that Ousanas is the king to whom Aedesius and Frumentius were brought. W.R.O. Hahn, in a study published in 1983, identifies Sembrouthes, who is known only from an inscription found in Daqqi Mahari in modern Eritrea, with Ousanas. If correct, this would give Ousanas a reign of at least 27 years. Axumite regnal lists and alternate names Ethiopian tradition credits Abreha and Atsbeha with being the first Christian kings of the country. They were likely based on the brothers Ezana and Saizana, sons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Timbuktu
The University of Timbuktu (French language, French: ''Université de Tombouctou'') is a collective term for the teaching associated with three mosques in the city of Timbuktu in what is now Mali: the mosques of Sankoré Madrasah, Sankore, Djinguereber Mosque, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya Mosque, Sidi Yahya. It was an organized scholastic community that endured for many centuries during the medieval period. The university contributed to the modern understanding of Islamic and academic studies in West Africa during the medieval period and produced a number of scholars and manuscripts taught under the Maliki school of thought. History of Timbuktu The city of Timbuktu developed out of a semi-permanent campsite established by the Tuareg people, Tuareg people in the late 1100s A.D. to early 1200s A.D. Due to the Tuaregs having established the area as a way-station for supplies and provisions, which was often visited by travelers and merchants passing by, it eventually became a large t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Djinguereber
The Djinguereber Mosque (; French: ''Mosquée de Djinguereber''; from Koyra Chiini ''jiŋgar-ey beer'' 'grand mosque'), also known as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber, is a famous learning center in Timbuktu, Mali. Built in 1327, it is one of three madrassas composing the University of Timbuktu. It was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1988. Design The design and construction of the Djinguereber mosque is traditionally credited to the Andalusi scholar Abu Ishaq Al Sahili. According to Ibn Khaldun - one of the best-known sources on 14th-century Mali - he was said to have received 12,000 mithkals of gold dust for the work. More recent analyses reject this version, demonstrating that the architectural style of the Djinguereber Mosque and others in West Africa derives mainly from mosques in the Sahara and traditional African architecture and religions, so that al-Sahili's influence on West African architecture is treated as a myth. Except for a small part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidi Yahya Mosque
The Sidi Yahya Mosque (; French language, French: ''Mosquée Sidi Yahya''), also known as the Mosque of Muhammad-n-Allah, is a mosque and madrasa of Timbuktu in Mali. The construction of the mosque began in 1400 under the leadership of Sheikh el-Mokhtar Hamalla of Timbuktu and was finished in 1440. The mosque was named after its first imam, Sidi Yahya al-Tadelsi. It is part of the University of Timbuktu, which includes the madrasas of Sidi Yahya, Djinguereber Mosque, Djinguereber and Sankore Madrasah, Sankore. The mosque is a typical example of earthen Sudano-Sahelian architecture but also exhibits distinctive forms of plan and ornament. Parts of the Mosque of Sidi Yahya were destroyed by Ansar Dine jihadists on 2 July 2012, following the Battle of Gao. These elements were later reconstructed under the direction of UNESCO team. History The construction of the mosque of Sidi Yahya, sometimes written Sidi Yahia, began in 1400 by Sheikh El-Mokhtar Hamalla. The Sidi Yahya mosque i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. Archaeological evidence suggests prehistoric settlements in the region, predating the city's Islamic scholarly and trade prominence in the medieval period. Timbuktu began as a seasonal settlement and became permanent early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325, Timbuktu flourished, due to its strategic location, from the trade in salt, gold, and ivory. It gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders before it became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century, the Tuareg people took control for a short period, until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sankoré Madrasah
Sankoré Madrasa (also called the Sankoré Mosque, Sankoré Masjid or University of Sankoré) is one of three medieval mosques and centres of learning located in Timbuktu, Mali, the others being the Djinguereber Mosque, Djinguereber and Sidi Yahya Mosque, Sidi Yahya mosques. Founded in the 14th century, the Sankoré mosque went through multiple periods of patronage and renovation under both the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire until its decline following the Battle of Tondibi in 1591. The mosque developed into a madrasa (meaning a school or college in Arabic), reaching its peak in the 16th century. The term "University of Sankoré" has sometimes been applied to the Sankoré madrasa, though there is no evidence of a centralized teaching institution such as the term university implies. Instead the mosque served as the focal point for individual scholars with their own private students, and as a location in which some lectures and classes were held. History The Sankoré mosque w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Zaytuna Mosque
Al-Zaytuna Mosque, also known as Ez-Zitouna Mosque, and El-Zituna Mosque (, literally meaning ''the Mosque of Olive''), is a major mosque at the center of the Medina of Tunis in Tunis, Tunisia. The mosque is the oldest in the city and covers an area of with nine entrances. It was founded at the end of the 7th century or in the early 8th century, but its current architectural form dates from a reconstruction in the 9th century, including many antique columns reused from Carthage, and from later additions and restorations over the centuries. The mosque developed into a place of higher education, today the University of Ez-Zitouna, which became the most important educational institution in Tunisia from around the 13th century onward. Ibn 'Arafa, a major Maliki school, Maliki scholar, al-Maziri, the great traditionalist and Faqīh, jurist, and Aboul-Qacem Echebbi, a famous Tunisian poet, all taught there, among others. Etymology One legend states that it was called "Mosque of Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Ez-Zitouna
Ez-Zitouna University (, ) is an Ancient higher-learning institutions, ancient public university in Tunis, Tunisia. The university originated in the Al-Zaytuna Mosque, founded at the end of the 7th or in the early 8th century, which developed into a major Islamic centre of learning in North Africa. It consists of the Higher Institute of Theology and the Higher Institute of Islamic Civilisation in Tunis and a research institution, the Centre of Islamic Studies, in Kairouan. History There is little information about teaching at the Zaytuna Mosque prior to the 14th century. At that time there were most probably courses being offered voluntarily by ''ulama'' (Islamic legal scholars), but not in an organized manner. For centuries, Kairouan was the early centre of learning and intellectual pursuits in Tunisia and North Africa in general. Starting from the 13th century, Tunis became the capital of Ifriqiya under Almohad Caliphate, Almohad and Hafsid rule. This shift in power helped al-Z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
