TM-2: Merv

Merv, or Margiana as it was once called, was one of the great cities of the ancient world. It was already a giant citadel when Alexander's armies came through, and he modestly renamed it Alexandria Margiana. It prospered at the center of the Silk Road until 1221, when Genghis Khan's most brutal son sacked the city in retaliation for a snub to his emissary. In a typically Mongol gambit, he accepted the 300,000 inhabitants' peaceful surrender then slaughtered every one of them. There were some attempts to build a new, smaller town, but it was sacked again by Bukhara and abandoned by its river, which changed course 30 kilometers to the west. By the time the Russians came, Merv was little more than a nomad camp beside ancient ruins.

There are actually five ruined cities from different eras, as the population center moved gradually westward. The earliest was the one that Alexander knew, a large citadel with mud brick walls 40 meters (170 feet) high. Although that city was 600 meters across, it was small compared with the cities that followed.



The second was a cosmopolitan city several kilometers across. Remains were found of Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Nestorian Christian and Islamic worship. This water tank near the mosque shows excellent brickwork.


The third even-larger city was built by the Seljuk, and it was the zenith of Merv's power.


The only thing Genghis Khan left standing was the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, a 38-meter-high domed tomb that has been restored with Turkish money.


A few other interesting buildings lie outside the town walls. Two large structures might have been houses of rich families.


A small 12th-century mausoleum is named after the Shiite martyr Mohammed ibn Zeid, although it probably does not contain his grave. It does, however, contain some fabulous Arabic calligraphy carved in brick, as well as a wall with clearly Zoroastrian symbols, which still infiltrate the Islam of the area.



We spent the night in the Soviet city of Mary, the heart of an irrigated farm belt near the present course of the river. Our hotel was pretty shabby with a door lock that didn’t work, but it was apparently better than the rest of the soviet-style hotels in town.

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