Mary (Turkmen pronunciation: [mɑˈɾɯ]) is a city on an oasis in the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, located on the Murgab River. It was founded in 1884 about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the ruins of the ancient abandoned great city of Merv and was actually named Merv until 1937.
Mary is the capital city of Mary Region. In 2022, Mary had a population of 167,000, up from 92,000 in the 1989 census.
The Marghab River (Dari/Pashto: مرغاب, Murghāb, Balochi: مرگاپ), anciently the Margiana (Ancient Greek: Μαργιανή, Margianḗ), is an 850-kilometre (530 mi) long river in Central Asia. It rises in the Paropamisus Mountains (Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh) in Ghor Province, flows through the Marghab District in central Afghanistan, then runs northwest towards the Bala Murghab. Reaching the oasis of Mary in the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan, the Marghab debouches into the Karakum Canal, a diversion of water from the Amu Darya. The catchment area of the Marghab is estimated at 46,880 square kilometres (18,100 sq mi).
Merv (Turkmen: Merw [ˈmeɾβ]; Persian: مرو [ˈmæɹv]), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian city in Central Asia, located on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium BC until the 18th century AD. It changed hands repeatedly throughout history. Under the Achaemenid Empire, it was the center of the satrapy of Margiana. It was subsequently ruled by Hellenistic Kings, Parthians, Sasanians, Arabs, Ghaznavids, Seljuqs, Khwarazmians and Timurids, among others.
Merv served as the capital of several polities throughout its history. In the beginning of the 9th century, Merv was the seat of the caliph al-Ma'mun and the capital of the entire Islamic caliphate. It served later as the seat of the Tahirid governors of Khorasan. In the 11th–12th centuries, Merv was the capital of the Great Seljuk Empire and remained so until its ultimate fall. Around this time, Merv turned into a chief centre of Islamic science and culture, attracting as well as producing renowned poets, musicians, physicians, mathematicians and astronomers. The great Persian polymath Omar Khayyam, among others, spent a number of years working at the observatory in Merv. As Persian geographer and traveller al-Istakhri wrote of Merv: "Of all the countries of Iran, these people were noted for their talents and education." Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi counted as many as 10 giant libraries in Merv, including one within a major mosque that contained 12,000 volumes.
Tejen (older spellings: Tedzhen, Tejend, Tejent) is an oasis city in the Karakum Desert, in Ahal Province of Turkmenistan. It lies along the M37 highway, between Dushak and Mary, 223 kilometres (139 mi) by road southeast of Ashgabat. It has a population of approximately 67,500. To the east is the larger oasis of Mary. Khlopin suggests Tejen may have been the birthplace of Zoroaster.