Ancient Merv
Turkmenistan · Mary
In brief
The given coordinate refers to Merv's historic urban area, consisting of Erk Kala, Gyaur Kala and Sultan Kala. The center, which began developing around the 6th century BC, became an important administrative, commercial and religious center on the Silk Roads.
What was found?
- 1Erk Kale fortifications
The high walls and citadel of the settlement surrounded by a ditch have survived. They enable the study of the early phases of Merv's defensive architecture.
- 2Buddhist stupa and monastery
The remains of a stupa and monastery lie within Gavur Kale. The structures provide tangible evidence of Merv's Buddhist past.
- 3Beni Makhan Mosque and cistern
The remains of the mosque and water storage structure in the center of Gavur Kale were identified. They illuminate the city's religious and infrastructural arrangements during the Islamic period.
- 4Houses and streets
Excavated houses and streets enable research into the everyday lives of the city's inhabitants. The UCL project gathers data from these remains on diet, cleanliness, and the use of space.
- 5Sultan Sencer's Mausoleum
It is an important Seljuk building with brickwork, carved stucco decoration, and preserved wall paintings. It was part of a larger religious complex.
What does it point to?
Merv bears traces of urban life that developed in an oasis environment and of changing religious traditions. The walled cities built side by side show that the settlement shifted location over time.
What did it teach us?
- The presence of Buddhist and Islamic structures documented the oasis's different religious periods.
- The successive cities showed the relationship between the settlement pattern and the changing river course.
- House excavations made it possible to investigate the lives of ordinary city inhabitants alongside monumental buildings.
Record
- Culture
- Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian and Islamic cultures
- Team / historical
- Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, State Historical and Cultural Park Ancient Merv and UCL Institute of Archaeology
- Coordinates
- 37.6648°, 62.1749°
Sources
Nearby excavations
- Gonur Depe 62 km
- Altyn-Depe 178 km
- Old Nisa 350 km
- Kampyr Tepe 429 km
- Fayaz Tepe 444 km
- Afrasiyab 474 km
- —
- —
- 12.000
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Arkeofili ↗ · Excavation notebook - New prehistoric settlement identified on the shore of the Dardanelles
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Arkeoloji Dergisi ↗
All excavation sites (385)
Türkiye
- Acemhöyük
- Aizanoi
- Alabanda
- Alacahöyük
- Amos
- Ani
- Aphrodisias
- Arslantepe Mound
- Aspendos
- Assos
- Ayanis Fortress
- Aşıklı Höyük
- Barcın Höyük
- Blaundus
- Boncuklu Höyük
- Can Hasan I
- Carchemish
- Claros Sanctuary
- Clazomenae
- Domuztepe
- Ephesus
- Euromus
- Gordion
- Göbekli Tepe
- Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia
- Hattusha
- Hierapolis
- Iasos
- Kaman-Kalehöyük
- Karahantepe
- Karatepe-Aslantaş
- Kaunos
- Kibyra
- Knidos
- Kültepe-Kanesh
- Laodicea on the Lycus
- Letoon Sanctuary
- Limyra
- Magnesia on the Maeander
- Medieval City of Beçin
- Metropolis in Ionia
- Miletus
- Myra
- Nemrut Dağ
- Nysa on the Maeander
- Olympus in Lycia
- Oymaağaç Höyük — Nerik
- Patara
- Pergamon
- Perge
- Phaselis
- Priene
- Sagalassos
- Sanctuary of Apollo at Didyma
- Sanctuary of Labraunda
- Sapinuwa
- Sardis
- Sayburç
- Side
- Stratonikeia
- Tell Atchana – Alalakh
- Teos
- Tripolis on the Meander
- Troy
- Uluburun Shipwreck
- Xanthos
- Yenikapı – Theodosian Harbour Excavations
- Yeşilova Höyük
- Yumuktepe
- Zerzevan Castle
- Zeugma
- Zincirli Höyük — Sam'al
- Çatalhöyük
- Çavuştepe Fortress
- Çayönü
- Çukuriçi Höyük