An Evaluation on Mayyāfāriqīn Hospital in the Light of Some New Data

Abstract

Bīmāristān (hospital) of Mayyāfāriqīn which was one of the oldest hospitals in Anatolia was built during Marwānids' period [983-1085]. Amir Naṣīr al-Dawla [r. 1011-1061] had the hospital constructed with Zāhid al-'Ulamā's suggestion and he devolved it properties for pious purposes, as well. It is possible to say that the dates 414 [1023/24] and the first day of Shawwal 417 [15 November 1026] given by Ibn al-Azraq and Ibn al-Maṭrān were the beginning of the construction and the start of services of the hospital, respectively. During research, no record was obtained supporting claims in the literature that the hospital built in the Marwānids' era and the one in the Arṭuqids' era were different. So it seems feasible to propound that Mayyāfāriqīn Hospital had been built by Naṣīr al-Dawla and it stood and provided services during Arṭuqids' era and its waqfs were rearranged in Najm al-Dīn Alpī period.