Old School Trivia Quiz

Answer: Iraq

Inspired by the older Academy of Gondishapur, the House of Wisdom was founded in 825 CE by the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun in Baghdad. It combined a library, observatory, academy and hospital and functioned as a major intellectual and cultural centre. At its peak, around 90 scholars worked there translating scientific texts from Greek, Aramaic and Persian into Arabic. Notable figures included the Christian physician Hunayn ibn Ishaq and his son Ishāq ibn Hunain, the mathematician and astronomer Thabit ibn Qurra, the philosopher al-Kindī, the Banū Mūsā brothers and al-Chwarizmi.

The scholars translated and studied the works of Galen, Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Archimedes and Euclid, developing techniques for conceptual rather than literal translation in the process. The House of Wisdom's influence extended beyond Baghdad and inspired similar institutions in Córdoba, Seville and Cairo. Its growth was aided by the introduction of paper production in Baghdad that enabled the creation of manuscripts and the development of a thriving paper market.

However, the House of Wisdom was destroyed in 1258 during the Mongol conquest under Hülegü, along with many of Baghdad's libraries, bringing an end to one of the most remarkable centres of learning in the medieval world.

Answer: India

Located about 15 km north of Rajgir in Bihar, India, Nalanda University was founded in the 5th century CE and became the largest Buddhist university in India. At its peak, the university hosted over 10,000 students and 1,000 professors and attracted scholars from across Asia. Among them were the 7th-century Chinese pilgrims Xuanzang and Yijing.

The university flourished under the Gupta dynasty (271-562) and continued to thrive under King Harsha of Kannauj (606-647) and the Pala dynasty (752-1162 CE). Its complex included multi-story brick buildings, numerous temples, monasteries (viharas) and a library reputed to hold around 9 million manuscripts. This made it one of the most important centres of learning in the ancient world.

Nalanda specialised in Buddhist studies, philosophy, mathematics, medicine and logic, and served as a major international hub of education. Its decline began with the fall of the Pala dynasty, and it was destroyed in the early 13th century by the forces of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji. The site remained in ruins for centuries, though it inspired later institutions such as the Somapura Mahavihara and the modern Nalanda University founded in 2010. In 2016, UNESCO recognized the ruins as a World Heritage Site.

Answer: Pakistan

The University of ancient Taxila (Takṣaśilā Viśvavidyālaya), located in present-day Punjab, Pakistan, was founded around 5th century BCE and flourished until the 5th century CE. A centre of the Gurukula system of learning, it taught in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Jain and Vedic traditions, covering religious and secular subjects. Subjects of study included Vedic science, medicine, mathematics, law, linguistics, astrology, archery and the arts.

Due to its location at the crossroads of major trade routes, Taxila attracted scholars and a highly cosmopolitan population from across Asia, including Indians, Persians, Greeks and Scythians. Over the centuries, the university evolved under various rulers, including the Mauryan Empire and the Indo-Greeks, and became a prominent centre of Buddhist scholarship in the early centuries CE.

Notable teachers included the grammarian Pāṇini, the political strategist Chanakya and Kumāralāta, the founder of the Sautrāntika school. Notable students included Chandragupta Maurya, who studied a broad curriculum of sciences and arts for eight years, as well as Jivaka, the Buddha's personal physician, and Charaka, a leading authority in Ayurveda.

Taxila was destroyed by the Hunas in the 5th century CE, ending its role as a major center of learning.

Answer: Greece

The Peripatetic School, also known as the Peripatos, was a philosophical school founded by Aristotle in Athens around 335 BCE, after he returned from teaching Alexander the Great. Located at the Lyceum, a gymnasium and park to the east of the city, it took its name from the peripatos ("covered walkway"), where Aristotle and his students would walk and discuss philosophy. Members of the school became known as Peripatetics.

The school was led first by Aristotle and then by his successor Theophrastus, who expanded its library and continued its research. Later scholars included Straton of Lampsacus and Lyco of Troas. The Peripatetics studied all the subjects that Aristotle had pioneered - logic, physics, biology, politics, ethics, rhetoric and metaphysics - and made major contributions to science and classification.

The school declined after the Mithridatic Wars in 86 BCE, when Sulla destroyed much of Athens. However, Andronicus of Rhodes revived Aristotelian thought in the 1st century BCE by editing and organising the surviving works of Aristotle. Throughout late antiquity and the Middle Ages, Aristotelian thought shaped European education for centuries.

Answer: Greece

The Academy was founded by Plato around 387 BCE just outside Athens in a grove dedicated to the hero Akademos. It was the first institution in the Western world devoted to higher learning, bringing together philosophy, mathematics and science under one roof. The name of the place soon came to designate the entire school, and its members were known as "Academics".

Plato led the Academy until his death in 348/347 BCE, after which it was headed by his nephew Speusippus and other successors known as "scholarchs". The school explored metaphysics, ethics, mathematics, astronomy and political theory, continuing and developing Plato's philosophical inquiries. Over time, the Academy passed through different phases - the so-called Old Academy, followed by the Skeptical or Middle Academy under Arcesilaus and later the New Academy under Carneades - reflecting shifts in focus from Platonism to skeptical philosophy.

The original Academy was devastated during Sulla's sack of Athens in 86 BCE, effectively ending its continuous tradition. A Neoplatonic revival in the 5th century CE brought a final flourishing of Platonist study in Athens until Emperor Justinian closed the school in 529 CE as part of his crackdown on pagan teaching.

Answer: Italy

The Schola Medica Salernitana, located in the southern Italian city of Salerno, was one of the earliest and most influential medical schools of medieval Europe. The school combined classical Greek, Roman, Arabic and Jewish medical knowledge. Its golden age was between the 11th and 13th centuries, when figures such as Constantinus Africanus translated Arabic medical treatises into Latin. This created a shared medical vocabulary that would shape European medicine for centuries to come.

The school developed a comprehensive medical curriculum: three years of logic, followed by five years of medical study including anatomy, surgery and autopsy, and a final year of supervised practice. Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, granted the school official privileges in 1225, codified in the Constitutiones Melphitanae, which made Salerno the only state-recognized medical school in the Kingdom of Sicily.

The School of Salerno was remarkable for its inclusion of women as both students and teachers - among them the famed Trota of Salerno - and for producing influential works like the "Antidotarium Nicolai" and the "Circa instans", early pharmacopeias that systematized drug knowledge. The legendary "Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum", a collection of medical advice in verse, spread Salernitan health ideas throughout Europe.

However, the school's prestige gradually declined following the establishment of newer universities, such as those in Naples and Bologna, and it was formally dissolved in 1812.

Answer: China

The Shuyuan, usually translated as "Academies of Classical Learning", were private educational institutions in imperial China where scholars could study the Confucian classics, conduct research, and engage in contemplation away from the distractions of urban life. These academies originated during the Tang dynasty around 725 CE and collected books from across the country, preserving texts and providing a structured yet independent environment for learning.

Shuyuan combined rigorous study of the Confucian classics with practical training for local educational and governmental responsibilities. Women occasionally participated in some academies, particularly in literary and philosophical studies, although they were a minority.

During the Northern Song dynasty (960-1126), the development of shuyuan accelerated with government encouragement, and many academies gained prestige through imperial recognition. Each academy maintained its own teaching and administrative structure and was economically self-sufficient.

During the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), academies came under government control in order to prepare students for the imperial examinations. This system continued through the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. By the late Qing dynasty, there were more than 7,000 academies, some of which evolved into modern universities, middle schools, public libraries and museums. Ultimately, the system was abolished during the Hundred Days' Reform in 1898.

Answer: Germany

The University of Altdorf, also known as the Altdorfina or the Academia Norica, was the university of the imperial city of Nuremberg. It was founded as an academy in 1575. The first master's degrees were awarded in 1581. In 1622, Emperor Ferdinand II granted the academy university status after Nuremberg left the Protestant Union and paid 25,000 guilders. Despite threats and plundering by troops, the university survived the Thirty Years' War.

During its heyday in the 17th and early 18th centuries, Altdorf became a centre for theology, medicine, astronomy, chemistry and the natural sciences. It established an anatomy institute in 1650, an observatory in 1657 and a chemical laboratory in 1682. Prominent scholars and students included Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Albrecht von Wallenstein and the composer Johann Pachelbel.

However, student numbers declined after 1740. Following Nuremberg's incorporation into Bavaria and the establishment of other state universities, Altdorf was officially closed in 1809. Its library largely passed to the University of Erlangen.

Answer: Iran

The Academy of Gondishapur was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire, flourishing from the 3rd to the 10th century. It was located in present-day Khuzestan Province, southwest Iran, near the Karun River. Founded in 271, Gondishapur included the earliest known teaching hospital, a library and an academy where medicine, philosophy, theology and sciences were studied. The institution integrated knowledge from Persian, Greek and Indian traditions.

Under the reign of King Khosrow I (531-579), the city became renowned for its contributions to medicine and science. The king offered asylum to Greek philosophers and Christian scholars who were fleeing persecution in the Byzantine Empire and commissioned them to translate Greek and Aramaic texts into Middle Persian. Indian and Chinese scholars were also invited to contribute texts on subjects such as astronomy, mathematics, medicine, astrology and herbal medicine. Notably, the physician Burzoe is said to have translated the Panchatantra into Persian.

Following the Muslim conquest of Persia in 642, the academy continued to operate under Muslim rule, though it gradually lost its former prominence. After the House of Wisdom was established in Baghdad in 832, the academy declined and was eventually dissolved in the 10th century.

Answer: Mali

The Sankoré Madrasah was a major centre of learning in Timbuktu, Mali, from the 14th to the 16th century. Unlike European universities, it had no centralised administration. Instead, individual scholars (sheikhs or ulamas) taught their students privately, often in their own homes or at the mosque. Education was highly personalised, with students sometimes studying for up to ten years under a single teacher, forming a mentorship similar to an apprenticeship.

At its peak, under the Songhai Empire, Sankoré attracted scholars from across the Islamic world, including Egypt and Syria. Students studied a range of subjects such as:
religious studies and law, Arabic language and grammar, which was essential for understanding religious texts, mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, history and trade ethics.

Education at Sankoré was structured into four levels, each marked by the award of a turban to symbolise scholarly achievement. The highest levels involved specialised study, debates on philosophical and religious questions, and mentorship under senior scholars. Graduates could become judges, professors or advisors to regional rulers, thereby spreading Sankoré's influence across West Africa.

Its intellectual activity declined after the Moroccan conquest in 1591, which led to the imprisonment and exile of many scholars, including the prominent Ahmad Baba.