Ancient Merv

Turkmenistan · Mary

Ancient cityIntermittent excavationUNESCO · 1999
Approximate period600 BCE — 1,800 CEFrom the Achaemenid period to the Middle Ages and beyond See on the map ↓

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?

  1. The presence of Buddhist and Islamic structures documented the oasis's different religious periods.
  2. The successive cities showed the relationship between the settlement pattern and the changing river course.
  3. 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

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. whc.unesco.org
  3. ucl.ac.uk
  4. ucl.ac.uk
  5. UNESCO Dünya Mirası Merkezi

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