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The Mediterranean Sea: Cradle of Civilization* Journal of Humanitarian Medicine - Vol. XIII - N° 2 - April-June 2013 THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA: CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION* Gülsün Sağlamer President, Council of Mediterranea Universities The Mediterranean Basin has been the cradle of world The history of intellectual development civilization since the first settlements in Jericho in 9000 in the Mediterranean Basin BC. Known in English and the romance languages as the sea “between the lands”, the Mediterranean goes and has Established in 300 BC, the Ancient Library of Alexan - gone by many names: Our Sea, for the Romans, the White dria in Egypt was one of the largest and most significant Sea ( Akdeniz ) for the Turks, the Great Sea ( Yam Gadol ) libraries of the ancient world. The first intellectual devel - for the Jews, the Middle Sea ( Mittelmeer ) for the Germans opments emerged in the eastern Mediterranean and focused and more doubtfully the Great Green for the ancient Egyp - mainly on philosophy. People around the Mediterranean tians. 1 Our Sea played a major role in the communication Sea have had limitless opportunities to meet with differ - of the peoples around it and prevented clashes between ent cultures and to learn about the world and this fact, people with different interests from different parts of the starting from the Hellenistic period, gave birth to the emer - Basin. No other such basin exists in the world. The world gence of philosophers and scientists who made great con - map shows what a unique location the Mediterranean Sea tributions to intellectual development. Among them were has in the world—it is big enough to house all of us but Thales from Miletus, Anaximandros, Anaximendes, at the same time, with its unique shape, with its islands, Pythagoras, Xenophanes and Diogenes from Apollo, bays and straits, it creates the means to connect the peo - Hipocrates, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle (sixth, fifth, ple around it. It looks as if it is a closed sea, but it offers fourth centuries BC). The Middle Ages were the Golden the main transportation routes between east and west. Age of the Islamic people in the region, and between 622 The Mediterranean Sea is a symbol of creativity, of and 750 AD, starting in the Arab Peninsula, Islamic state the search for the meaning of life and for wisdom, and of expansion spread over the Middle East, part of Asia Mi - the love of people and nature. This sea has always been nor, Persia, Northern Africa and Iberia. For centuries, Al- an environment that has bred outstanding people who have Andalus in Iberia and Morocco were alternative cultural made remarkable contributions to the development of his - centres to Baghdad. From the eighth until the fifteenth cen - tory in philosophy, art, music, literature, science and tech - tury, many philosophers had a notable impact on the de - nology. Magnificent civilizations have scattered all around velopment of Islamic philosophy in the region, among them the Basin, from east to west, from north to south, from Jabir ibn Hayyan, Al Farabi, Al Biruni, Ibn Sina, Al Mesopotamia to Egypt, from Anatolia, Troy to Macedo - Qushayri, Al Ghazali, Al Baghdaadi, Ibn Rushd, Jalal ad- nia, from the Greek city states to Phoenician civilization, Din Rumi, and Ibn Khaldun. From ancient times to the from Carthage to Rome, from Baghdad to Al-Andalus, medieval and Renaissance periods, the Mediterranean Basin from Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire and from Alexan - played a major role in philosophy, art and science. After dria to Bologna, and have formed a sound base for world the eighteenth century, however, when long-range seafar - civilizations. One cannot imagine a history of the world ing became possible and new trade routes developed, the without the Egyptian, Hellenistic, Roman and Ottoman civ - Mediterranean region began to lose its importance and oth - ilizations. er parts of Europe and North America gained influence. * Associated with the Euro-Mediterranean Council on Burns and Fire Disasters, the IAHM welcomes this tribute to the Cradle of Civilzation. 22 Journal of Humanitarian Medicine - Vol. XIII - N° 2 - April-June 2013 Thus, there was a shift both from south to north and from is still in transition under the pressure of globalization but east to west in the development of modern philosophy, art, it is obvious that the role of the university as an institu - science and technology. tion continues to grow and expectations of society from the university are altering rapidly in today’s changing en - The history of universities in the vironment. There may be different definitions of universi - Mediterranean Region ties but what is certain is that the university is the prod - uct of the Mediterranean region. There is no reliable da - The list of the oldest universities in the world varies, ta regarding either how many universities are in the depending on how one defines a university. If a universi - Mediterranean Basin or how many Mediterranean univer - ty is considered to be a degree-granting institution, all of sities compete worldwide but this region’s rich, historical the world’s oldest are located in Europe where the prac - background has created an outstanding intellectual envi - tice of granting certification was widespread by the 1100s. ronment where many philosophers, artists, musicians and These quotes reflect a narrow, Eurocentric view of the uni - scientists of worldwide reputation have emerged over the versity: “The university is a European institution”, or “No centuries. other institution has spread over the entire world in the way in which the traditional form of the European uni - Universities linked by the Sea versity has done”. 2 In fact, it was the countries of the Mediterranean region that created the oldest universities in The people, countries, cultures and institutions around the world. More broadly the list of the oldest universities the Mediterranean Sea share common characteristics and does not include the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, values that have allowed the creation of many successful China, India or the Arab world, but the educational insti - projects and will most certainly continue to do so. The tutions that existed there satisfy a traditional definition of Mediterranean universities, with their core strengths based university and should, therefore, be included. If we list the in their deep intellectual culture and socially interconnected universities based on the narrow definition of degree-grant - staff and students can play a major role between east and ing institutions, we see that the oldest university in the west as well as between north and south. One of the ob - world is the University of Bologna, established in 1088. vious strengths is the mobility of students and academics. Among the 44 oldest universities, 25 were founded in the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of Mediterranean Basin, and the Italian Peninsula is the lead - University Students (ERASMUS) statistics show that be - ing region, with 13 universities. 3 Eight of the top ten old - tween 1987 and 2011, over 46 per cent of student and aca - est universities in the world that have operated continu - demic mobility was in the Mediterranean countries (AN - ously until the present day are in the Mediterranean area, NEX01SM - Outgoing Erasmus students from 1987/1988 an indication of how intellectually developed the region to 2010/2011). Mobility will help the Mediterranean uni - was and still is. Although Ottoman institutions are not in - versities extend their horizons and become global institu - cluded in the list, Istanbul University should be mentioned, tions. having been established in 1453 by Sultan Mehmed the University networks are another important factor and Conqueror. Another important institution and the first high - in order to understand what role these can play in this pro - er education institution of the Ottoman Empire outside re - cess, a brief look at the networks that exist in the region ligious education is Istanbul Technical University, which will be useful. The Community of Mediterranean Univer - was established in 1773. sities (CMU) is one of the oldest university networks in If we take a broader definition of university as “an au - the Mediterranean area, having been established in 1983, tonomous self-governing institution of higher education” when it was hosted by the University of Bari. It has over and look at the 10 oldest leading universities in the world, 4 160 member universities from 12 European and 9 Arab then we will have a different list. By definition, the uni - States. CMU also has strong connections with suprana - versity first was developed as a religious institution tional organizations such as the United Nations Educa - (madrasah ) that originated in the medieval Islamic world. tional, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), The first one was the University of Al-Karaouine in 859. the European Union and the European Council. The first Al-Azhar University in Egypt in 972 and Nizamiyya in cooperative agreement, signed with UNESCO on 7 Octo - Iran in 1065 were the other Islamic universities in the ber 1992 was followed by another signed on 2 August Basin. The Universities of Bologna, Paris, Oxford, Mont - 1997, which officially recognized CMU as a non-govern - pelier, Cambridge, Salamanca and Padua are the other uni - mental organization. There is a very fitting message on its versities in the list, and the Mediterranean Basin has a website: “Many voices, only one basin”. We do have many strong presence in it. Since 1500, many universities have voices in one region: CMU is far from being the only net - been founded all over the world and many different types work of the Mediterranean universities – in fact, there are of higher education institutions emerged. Higher education many. Among them are the network of Mediterranean Tech - 23 Journal of Humanitarian Medicine - Vol. XIII - N° 2 - April-June 2013 nical Universities (RMEI), the Euro-Mediterranean Uni- dependently.
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