|
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 respective scholars. They are to be distinguished from the Western-style university, an autonomous organization of scholars that originated in medieval Europe and has 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-ankh, which means the “House of Life” – in 2000 BCE. In the 3rd century BCE, amid the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Serapeum, Mouseion, and Library of Alexandria served as organizations of higher learning in Alexandria. In Cai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.9 million, is the 12th-largest in the world by population. Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta, the city first developed as Fustat, a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to an existing ancient Roman fortress, Babylon. Under the Fatimid dynasty a new city, ''al-Qāhirah'', was founded nearby in 969. It later superseded Fustat as the main urban centre during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods (12th–16th centuries). Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life, and is titled "the city of a thousand m ... [...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 Bud ... [...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 earlier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ella Amida
Ousanas (fl. 320) was a King of Axum. S. C. Munro-Hay believes that it is "very likely" that Ousanas is the king to whom Aedesius and Frumentius were brought. In Ethiopian tradition, this king is called Ella Allada or Ella Amida. ''Ella Amida'' would then be his throne name, although ''Ousanas'' is the name that appears on his coins. If this identification is correct, then it was during his reign that Christianity was introduced to Axum and the surrounding territories. Ousanas may have had a "relatively long reign" and campaigned in Nubia. It is also possible that he was briefly ousted by Wazeba, a usurper. 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. Coins with the name of this ruler were found in the late 1990s at archaeological sites in India.Details in Paul B. Henze, ''Layers of Time: A History of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Timbuktu
The University of Timbuktu is a collective term for the teaching associated with three mosques in the city of Timbuktu in what is now Mali: the mosques of Sankore, Djinguereber, and 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 Timbuktu is a city created by the Tuareg people around 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 trading city. Eventually Mansa Musa I (ruled 1307–1332) gained control of the city. When he traveled to Mecca in order to complete the Hajj, he returned to Mali with architec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Djinguereber
The Djinguereber Mosque ( ar, مسجد دجينجيربر) in Timbuktu, Mali is a famous learning center of Mali built in 1327, and cited as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber in various languages. Its design is accredited to Abu Ishaq Al Sahili who was paid 200 kg (40,000 mithqals) of gold by Musa I of Mali, emperor of the Mali Empire. According to Ibn Khaldun, one of the best known sources for 14th century Mali, al-Sahili was given 12,000 mithkals of gold dust for his designing and building of the ''djinguereber'' in Timbuktu. But more reasoned analysis suggests that his role, if any, was quite limited. The architectural crafts in Granada had reached their zenith by the fourteenth century, and it is extremely unlikely that a cultured and wealthy poet would have had anything more than a dilettante's knowledge of the intricacies of contemporary architectural practice. Except for a small part of the northern facade, which was reinforced in the 1960s in alhore (limestone block ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidi Yahya Mosque
The Sidi Yahya Mosque (), 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 and 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 is one of the oldest mosques in Timbuktu and holds special significance: when the Touar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali and one town of Songhai people. It had a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census. Timbuktu began as a seasonal settlement and became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325, Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves. It gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders. 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 of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the city in 1468. A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 159 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Sankore
Sankoré Madrasa (also called the University of Sankoré, or Sankore Masjid) is one of three ancient centers of learning located in Timbuktu, Mali. It is believed to be established by Mansa Musa, who was the ruler of the Mali Empire, though the Sankoré mosque itself was founded by an unknown Malinke people, Malinke patron. The three Mosque, mosques of Sankoré: Sankoré, Djinguereber Mosque, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya Mosque, Sidi Yahya comprise the University of Timbuktu. The madrasa went through multiple periods of patronage and renovation under both the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire until the Battle of Tondibi in 1591 led to its looting. Madrasa (مدرسة) means school/university in Arabic and also in other languages that have been influenced by Islam. History The University of Sankoré has its roots in the Sankoré Mosque, which was built in 988 AD with the financial backing of a Malinke woman."The University of Sankore Is Founded in Timbuktu." In Africa, edited by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ez-Zitouna University
Ez-Zitouna University ( ar, جامعة الزيتونة, french: Université Ez-Zitouna) is a public ancient university in Tunis, Tunisia. The university originates in the Al-Zaytuna Mosque, founded at the end of the 7th century or in the early 8th century, which developed into a major Islamic center 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 Center of Islamic Studies, in Kairouan. History There is little information about teaching at the Zaytuna Mosque prior to the 14th century. During this time there were most likely 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 and Hafsid rule. This shift in pow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Al-Qarawiyyin
The University of al-Qarawiyyin ( ar, جامعة القرويين; ber, ⵜⴰⵙⴷⴰⵡⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵇⴰⵕⴰⵡⵉⵢⵉⵏ; french: Université Al Quaraouiyine), also written Al-Karaouine or Al Quaraouiyine, is a university located in Fez, Morocco. It was founded as a mosque by Fatima al-Fihri in 857–859 and subsequently became one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the Islamic Golden Age. It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963 and officially renamed "University of Al Quaraouiyine" two years later. The mosque building itself is also a significant complex of historical Moroccan and Islamic architecture that features elements from many different periods of Moroccan history. Scholars consider al-Qarawiyyin to have been effectively run as a madrasa until after World War II.Lulat, Y. G.-M.: ''A History Of African Higher Education From Antiquity To The Present: A Critical Synthesis Studies in Higher Education'', Greenwo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_(qarawiyyin_crop).jpg "Click for more on -> University Of Al-Qarawiyyin")