Talk:School of Samarqand

Considerable margin?

Just what is this considerable margin? And what other institutions are being compared to this one? If the school was closed in 1376 and not reopened until 1621, I don't think it is correct to date it from 1073. But not knowing of other similar institutions, an opening in 1621 may still make it considerably older than any other institution. Caeruleancentaur 00:53, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

Maybe I need to adjust that statement somewhat. The Assyrian Church and Turkestani government both date the school to 1073 for their own various propaganda purposes; the Assyrian Church in order to say "Look, we were founding new universities here when the Muslims were still a bunch of desert raiders", and the Turkestani government for the purpose of saying "We've got the oldest university in the region". Assuming this start date, Avicenna U. is probably the next oldest in Turkestan. I'm having Timur start that one by giving the old School of Samarqand property to the Muslims. There's probably a couple of university-type institutions around in Persia that go back a fair ways.

So really, the start date of 1073 is an accepted piece of propaganda fiction. But I'm choosing to let it stand. You're right, though, I probably need to make a note to that effect. Geoff 04:19, 31 May 2009 (UTC)