History of Merv

Merv is also mentioned in «One Thousand and One Nights» as an administrative and cultural center of the Arab Caliphate. The first written references to Merv appear in the Avestan chronicles around the 8th-6th centuries BCE. The city was home to great medieval thinkers such as Omar Khayyam, Al-Samani, and Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani. Chroniclers referred to Merv as the «mother of cities in Khorasan» and the «city upon which the Universe rests.»

In 1221, Merv was razed to the ground by a brutal Mongol invasion. Its ruins became a revered site, known as Ancient Merv or Old Merv.

The concept of «New Merv» first emerged in the early 15th century, associated with Shahrukh, the son of Amir Timur. Shahrukh sought to breathe new life into these lands and built a city to reflect his grandeur. Between 1407 and 1409, he laid the foundation of New Merv significantly south of the ancient city, and within nearly a decade, a large city with palaces, squares, and fortresses arose in the area.

Among the most fascinating monuments of Merv are the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar Dar al-Akhira (1140 CE), towering nearly 40 meters high in Sultan-Kala; the Shazriyar-Ark citadel; the ruins of Abdullah-Khan-Kala’s walls (15th century); the fortress and towers of Bayram-Ali-Khan-Kala; the fortress ruins of Kyz-Kala (6th-7th centuries CE); the mausoleums of Al-Hakim ibn Amir al-Jafari and Buraidah ibn al-Husayn al-Islami (15th century, a pilgrimage site); the mausoleum of Muhammad ibn-Zayd (12th century); the Talhatan-Baba complex with the mausoleums of Talhatan-Baba, Imam Kasim, Imam Shafi, and Imam Bakr from the Seljuk era; the Yusuf Hamadani Mosque (13th century, with a modern reconstruction completed in the 19th century); the ruins of the Beni Makhan Mosque («Friday Mosque,» 7th-12th centuries); the high fortress-like walls of the Great and Small Kyz-Kala structures; the Kyz-Bibi Mausoleum; and numerous remnants of baths, palaces, grand halls, and other structures.

The ruins of Old Merv, located northeast of the town of Bayramali, include several ancient settlements, each deserving special attention and study—Erk-Kala, Iskander-Kala, the capital of the prosperous Margiana region Shazriyar-Kala, Sultan-Kala, Small Sultan-Kala, Abdullah-Khan-Kala, Bayram-Ali-Khan-Kala, Shaim-Kala, the ruins of a Christian church, and a Buddhist monastery in Gyaur-Kala (the ancient Antioch of Margiana).

Today, Merv is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, celebrated as one of the best-preserved ancient centers of the Great Silk Road.