At present, Ancient Merv is a designated State Historical and Cultural Park located near the modern city of Mary in Turkmenistan. Established in 1987, it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and recognized as one of the most extensive and best-preserved urban centers along the ancient Silk Road.
The first settlements in this area date back to the 3rd millennium BCE, and remarkably, people continued to inhabit this region up until the 18th century CE. Throughout its history, Merv served not only as a commercial and economic hub but also as a political powerhouse. During the Achaemenid period, it housed the residence of the satraps of Margiana, and after the Arab conquest of Central Asia, the future caliph Abdullah al-Mamun of the Abbasid dynasty lived here.
Across the ruins of ancient Merv, monuments from various eras still stand today. Among the oldest is the Erk-Kala citadel, which dates to the 7th century BCE. The most striking and well-preserved is the Greater Kyz-Kala Fortress, famous for its distinctive corrugated façade. Numerous other monuments from the Islamic era also survive within the boundaries of the Ancient Merv park.
The History of Merv
As mentioned above, human presence in the area dates back to the Bronze Age — the 3rd millennium BCE. Archaeological findings point to a highly developed agricultural culture in the surrounding region. Scholars believe that ancient Merv was culturally linked to the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). The city is also referenced as **Mouru** in commentaries on the Zoroastrian scripture, the *Avesta*.
By the time the Achaemenid Empire emerged (circa 550–330 BCE), Merv had already grown into a significant settlement. Known as Margu, it is listed as part of a satrapy in the Behistun Inscription (ca. 515 BCE), issued by the Persian king Darius I the Great. The Erk-Kala fortress likely already existed by the time the Achaemenids conquered the area.
A new chapter in the life of ancient Merv began with the campaigns of Alexander the Great, who toppled the Achaemenid Empire and incorporated its vast territories into his own expanding dominion. While some legends claim that Alexander himself visited Merv, this is not confirmed by historical records. Nonetheless, in a few Greek texts, the city is referred to as Alexandria (Ἀλεξάνδρεια), suggesting its importance during his reign.
After Alexander’s death and the ensuing wars between his successors — the Diadochi — Merv came under the control of the Seleucid Empire. The Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter (r. 281–261 BCE) renamed the city Antiochia in Margiana, making it the capital of the province. This Hellenistic-era city was located at what is today known as the Gyaur-Kala Fortress. Between 256 and 125 BCE, Merv also became part of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom — a hybrid Hellenistic state that thrived in Central Asia.
Under the Parthians and the Sasanians
As the Hellenistic kingdoms in Central Asia crumbled, their lands were absorbed by the Parthian Empire — a rising regional power that halted Roman expansion eastward and became the new hegemon in the region. According to some sources, approximately 10,000 Roman soldiers captured at the Battle of Carrhae were deported to Merv. Under the Parthians, Hellenistic influence waned and local cultural traditions began to dominate.
It was also during the 1st century BCE that Buddhism began to spread into Merv, turning the city into a center of Buddhist scholarship for centuries. Buddhist monasteries remained active in the region until the Islamic conquest. Remnants of Buddhist stupas can still be found in Gyaur-Kala and Bayramali. Still, Buddhism was only one of many belief systems practiced in the area.
Zoroastrianism remained the dominant religion in both the Parthian and Sasanian periods. Still, Christianity reached Merv relatively early: from the 5th to the 11th centuries, the city served as the seat of a metropolitan bishop of the Church of the East. The earliest known bishop of Merv was Barshabba (circa 360/424 CE). The city also became a stronghold of Manichaeism, which competed with other religions for influence.
During the Sasanian era, the Silk Road fully matured as a commercial superhighway, and Merv rose to become a vital center of trade and craftsmanship linking China with the Western world. Chinese records even mention envoys from Merv who visited the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty.
The Arab Conquest and the Islamic Golden Age
In the mid-7th century, Merv entered a new era with the arrival of Arab armies during the rapid expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate. In 651 CE, after the fall of the Sasanian Empire, Arab forces captured Merv and incorporated it into the newly forming Islamic world. Over time, the city transitioned from a frontier outpost into one of the most important urban centers of the Islamic Golden Age.
Merv became the capital of Khurasan, a strategic region that served as the eastern frontier of the Islamic empire. The city not only served as an administrative hub but also became a vibrant center of Islamic scholarship, art, and science. It attracted theologians, poets, astronomers, and philosophers from across the Muslim world.
During the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, Merv was regarded as a key node in the Islamic world — both militarily and intellectually. One of the most remarkable events in the city’s history occurred in 748 CE, when Merv became the launch point of the Abbasid Revolution. The local population, including many non-Arab converts to Islam, supported the overthrow of the Umayyads. The movement’s leader, Abu Muslim, used Merv as his power base before marching on Damascus.
In the centuries that followed, the city flourished under various Persianate Muslim dynasties, including the Tahirids, Samanids, and Seljuks. By the 11th–12th centuries, Merv had grown into one of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities in the world, with a population that may have exceeded 500,000 people — rivaling cities like Baghdad and Córdoba.
Scholars of Merv
Merv produced a remarkable number of influential scholars, especially during the Abbasid and Seljuk periods. One of the most notable was the polymath Al-Khujandi, and another was Imam al-Hakim al-Nishapuri, a key figure in the Hadith sciences. The famed geographer al-Istakhri praised Merv as a city of scholars, while Yaqut al-Hamawi, who visited in the early 13th century, called it a “jewel of the East.”
Merv’s wealth and sophistication were reflected not only in its institutions of learning but also in its architecture, irrigation systems, and thriving markets. The Sultan Sanjar Mausoleum, which still dominates the skyline of Sultan-Kala, remains a powerful symbol of the city’s Islamic-era grandeur.
The Mongol Invasion and the Fall of Merv
In the early 13th century, the flourishing city of Merv faced one of the most catastrophic chapters in its history. In 1221 CE, the Mongol armies under Tolui, son of Genghis Khan, besieged the city as part of their campaign across Khurasan. Despite its strong defenses, Merv was overwhelmed after negotiations broke down.
What followed was a massacre of staggering proportions. According to contemporary sources such as Juvayni, over 700,000 people were killed — though modern historians consider that figure exaggerated, it is universally accepted that the population was almost entirely wiped out. Merv, once a beacon of knowledge and culture, was reduced to ruins in a matter of days.
The Mongol invasion effectively marked the end of Merv’s golden era. Although the city was later partially rebuilt and resettled, it never regained its former stature. The intricate irrigation canals that sustained agriculture for centuries were left in disrepair, and trade routes shifted elsewhere. Merv, once among the most influential cities of the Islamic world, faded into relative obscurity.
Merv in the Timurid and Safavid Periods
After the Mongol destruction, Merv lingered on as a provincial town. During the Timurid era in the 14th–15th centuries, the city saw some modest attempts at revival, but it remained a shadow of its former self. In the 16th century, it became part of the Safavid Empire, serving as a garrison town near the eastern frontier with Central Asian khanates.
Political instability, frequent conflicts, and shifting river courses continued to undermine any sustained redevelopment. By the 18th century, Merv was controlled by local Turkmen tribes, and later by the Karakalpak Khanate, before ultimately falling under Persian control once more.
In 1785, the Persian ruler Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ordered the destruction of Merv’s remaining irrigation system, dealing the final blow to the city’s survival. The oasis could no longer sustain a large population, and Merv was abandoned in favor of nearby settlements.
Rediscovery and Archaeological Exploration
After centuries of abandonment, Merv began to reappear in the records of European travelers and explorers in the 19th century. Fascinated by the legends of a lost city in the sands of Central Asia, adventurers such as Arminius Vámbéry and Lord Curzon visited the ruins, describing massive walls, collapsed domes, and the silence of a once-great civilization now swallowed by time.
In the 20th century, systematic excavations revealed just how vast and historically layered Merv truly was. Soviet archaeologists undertook major digs starting in the 1930s, uncovering four distinct city centers: Erk Kala (the earliest, Achaemenid), Gyaur Kala (Hellenistic and Sasanian), Sultan Kala (Islamic Golden Age), and the later Abbasid and Seljuk fortifications.
Excavations revealed everything from fortified city gates to ceramic workshops, Zoroastrian temples, and early Islamic madrassas. The Sultan Sanjar Mausoleum, though weathered, still stands as one of the finest examples of Seljuk architecture, with its monumental dome visible for miles across the desert plain.
In 1999, Merv was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized as one of the best-preserved examples of a historical oasis-city in Central Asia. Today, the site is protected within the Ancient Merv State Historical and Cultural Park, and international archaeological teams continue to study its vast ruins.
Today, visiting Merv is like stepping into the pages of a lost epic. Its crumbling walls, wind-swept ruins, and empty streets whisper of emperors, scholars, and conquerors — a reminder of how even the greatest cities can rise, shine, and fall beneath the weight of history.