Learning · a Light

Baghdad's 1233 college taught four schools of law at once

The Mustansiriya was opened in Baghdad in 1233 by the caliph al-Mustansir, on the east bank of the Tigris. Its innovation was to house all four Sunni schools of law in one building, each with its own professor, its own students and its own corner of the courtyard, rather than one school per college as had been usual. It also had teaching in Qur'an, hadith, medicine and mathematics, a hospital, a kitchen that fed the students, a bath, stipends, and a large library. Over the entrance was a water clock that marked the hours for the whole quarter. The building survived the sack of 1258 and is still standing on the riverbank in Baghdad.

Baghdad · opened 1233