- Merv
-
I
Ancient city, Central Asia.Lying near the modern town of Mary (formerly Merv) in Turkmenistan, it is mentioned in ancient Persian texts as Mouru and in cuneiform inscriptions as Margu and was the seat of a satrapy (province) of the Persian Achaemenian dynasty. Under the Arabs in the 7th century AD, it was rebuilt and served as a base for Muslim expansion into Central Asia. A great centre of Islamic learning under the caliphs of the Abbāsid dynasty, it reached its zenith under the Seljūq sultan Sanjar (r. 1118–59). It was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221 then rebuilt in the 17th century. It was occupied by the Russian Empire in 1884.II(as used in expressions)Griffin Merv EdwardSt. MaryBaylis Lilian MaryBethune Mary Jane McLeodMary Jane McLeodBlyton Enid MaryCartland Dame Mary Barbara HamiltonCassatt MaryChesnut MaryMary Boykin MillerChristie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissade Havilland Olivia MaryDodge Mary MapesMary Elizabeth MapesEarhart Amelia MaryEddy Mary BakerMary Morse BakerMary Ann EvansElizabeth Alexandra MaryEvans Dame Edith MaryHaas Mary RosamondHodgkin Dorothy MaryDorothy Mary CrowfootJones Mary HarrisMary HarrisVivian Mary HartleyLyon Mary MasonLegion of Mary ChurchMartin Mary VirginiaMary IMary Magdalene SaintMary Queen of ScotsMcCarthy Mary ThereseMontagu Lady Mary WortleyLady Mary PierrepontMoore Mary TylerAnna Mary RobertsonO'Connor Mary FlanneryPickford MaryGladys Mary SmithPrice Mary Violet LeontyneQuant MaryRetton Mary LouRobinson MaryMary BourkeRowlandson MaryMary WhiteVictoria Mary Sackville WestShelley Mary WollstonecraftMary Wollstonecraft GodwinSmyth Dame Ethel MaryMary Louise StreepMary MallonWard Barbara Mary Baroness Jackson of LodsworthWilliam and Mary College ofWilliams Mary LouMary Elfrieda ScruggsWollstonecraft MaryMary Kathryn WrightHouse of the Hospitallers of Saint Mary of the Teutons
* * *
▪ ancient city, Turkmenistanancient city of Central Asia lying near the modern town of Mary, Mary oblast (province), Turkmenistan. Mentioned in ancient Persian texts as Mouru and in cuneiform inscriptions as Margu, it was the seat of a satrapy of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Under the Arabs in the 7th century the city was rebuilt as the capital of Khorāsān and served as a base for Muslim expansion into Central Asia and later China. A great centre of Islāmic learning under the ʿAbbāsid caliphs, Merv attained the zenith of its glory as capital of the Seljuq sultan Sanjar (reigned 1118–57) and his successors. Destroyed by the Mongols in 1221, the city and its irrigation system were rebuilt in the 15th century, but it never regained its former prosperity. Merv was under the Tekke Turkmens when it was occupied by the Russians in 1884.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
