city
Beth Lapat (Gundeshapur)
near Shahabad, Dezful county, Iran · Persia & Church of the East
32.281, 48.518
Attested. The deportations, the see and the synod are attested. How large and formal the medical 'academy' was is debated; much of that picture comes from later Arabic sources.
Shapur I founded the city in the 3rd century and settled it with deportees from the Roman East, including Christians from Antioch. It became the metropolitan see of Beth Huzaye (Khuzestan) and hosted the synod of 484 led by Barsauma of Nisibis. Mani is reported to have died in prison here. Later tradition made it the home of a famous medical academy.
Source stance: neutral. Sasanian, Syriac and later Arabic sources; the academy tradition is later and partly legendary.
People and groups named here
- Shapur I (founder)
- Mani (died here c. 274-277)
- Barsauma of Nisibis (Synod of Beth Lapat, 484)
Sources
- GONDĒŠĀPUR
Encyclopaedia Iranica. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Beth Lapat (e-GEDSH)
Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, electronic ed., Beth Mardutho. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Pleiades place 912873: Jundishapur/Veh-Andiyok-Shapur/Beth Lapat
Pleiades Gazetteer (ISAW, NYU). Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.