Khorezm Mamun Academy

History

In the late 10th and early 11th centuries the Ma’munid Khorezmshahs (995–1017) hosted a remarkable circle of scholars at Gurganj, among them Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Abu Sahl al-Masihi and Abu Nasr ibn Iraq. Later historians described this milieu as the academy of its age, and it became known as the Mamun Academy. In 1997, on presidential initiative, the Khorezm Mamun Academy was re-established in Khiva; within the Uzbek Academy of Sciences it researches ancient statehood and culture, the protection of monuments from biological and physical decay, and environmental monitoring.