MERV: AN OASIS CAPITAL IN THE ANCIENT PARADISE - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 140

FIGURE 13 Talhatan Baba Mosque, 9th-12th centuries (www.culture.gov.tm).
Retrieved November 15, 2013 from http://www.culture.gov.tm/Merw/Merw_eng.html

MAUSOLEA OF TWO ASKHABS

The Mausolea complex located to the east of Sultan Kala, is comprised of
two askhabs' tombs next to each other, two iwans to the back added during
the Timurid era, and a mosque to the west. Recounted by Yakut, Prophet
Mohammed describes Merv as a fertile city, which will fight evil until
doomsday, and has willed his askhab Buraidah Ibn Al-Huseib Al-Aslami
to go to Merv (Esin, 1976). The tombs of Buraidah Al-Islami and Al-Ha-
kim Ibn Amr Al-Gifâr are located in the mentioned mausolea complex
(Fig. 14). Although the exact construction date is unclear, it is estimated
that they were constructed in the Seljuk period (9th-12th centuries), and
destroyed during the Mongol period. Iwans are decorated by blue, dark-
blue glazed bricks, arabic writings and geometrical motives on the inside
(Sayan, 1999). In the middle of square shaped and low tombs, there are
marble sarcophaguses each filled with inscriptions on their surfaces.

FIGURE 14 Mausolea of Two Askhabs, Timurid period (Sayan, 1999).