The Dean of the College of Law at the University of Baghdad and a member of the Board of Trustees of the House of Wisdom (Professor Dr. Ali Hadi Atiyah) participated in the 19th scientific conference and the 6th international conference organized by the Iraqi House of Wisdom, Department of Linguistic and Translational Studies, in collaboration with several academic and scientific institutions and Iraqi universities. The conference was titled “From the School of Jundi-shapur to the House of Wisdom: Translators and Scholars of the Syriacs as Builders of the Civilization of the Islamic Golden Age and the Renaissance of Europe.” It took place on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, in the conference hall of the House of Wisdom.
The conference commenced with the national anthem and the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, followed by the reading Al-Fatiha in honour of the souls of the martyrs of Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon.
The opening session began with a speech by Professor Dr. Ali Hadi Atiyah, a member of the Board of Trustees in the House of Wisdom, who welcomed the guests from both inside and outside Iraq. He mentioned the diversity of the research papers participating in this conference, highlighting the various sources of the House of Wisdom. He stated that wisdom, regardless of its schools, origins, and streams, serves all humanity, and that the wisdom derived from the Syriac sages united with the wisdom of Muslim scholars, leading to a flourishing of knowledge for all humanity.
This was followed by a speech from the conference guest, Dr. Ahmad Reda Khodari, an advisor to the Minister of Higher Education in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who recalled the strong scientific and cultural relationship between the School of Jundi-shapur and the House of Wisdom since its inception. He emphasized the importance of this topic and the necessity of addressing it in joint scientific research conferences and activities.
Next, the President of Jundi-shapur University, Dr. Mahdi Muhammad Ali Badiei, spoke about the establishment of Jundi-shapur University as the first scientific center in the world, calling for the enhancement of scientific and cultural relations with the House of Wisdom.
The opening session also included a theatrical presentation illustrating how Arabs produced knowledge through their diverse ethnicities and affiliations, and how Arab and Islamic civilization reached all corners of the world. The presentation featured historical scholarly figures such as Al-Fadl ibn Nawbakht, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Qusta ibn Luqa, and Thabit ibn Qurra.
The first day of the conference included two scientific sessions, with participation from a group of Iraqi, Arab, and foreign professors and researchers from various countries, including Turkey, Italy, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as several prestigious Iraqi universities in Baghdad and other provinces of our beloved Iraq.
