The mausoleum of the Saljuq ruler Ahmad Sanjar (r. 1118-1157) occupies the centre of the ruined walled city of Sultan Kala in Marv. It is believed that Muhammad ibn ‘Aziz from Sarakhs in Khorasan built it soon after the Khwarezmshahs deposed the Saljuq dynasty. The mausoleum was part of a larger religious and palatial complex; none of the ancillary buildings survive. The structure is noted as a rare example of Saljuq commemorative architecture dedicated to a non-religious and political figure. It also marks a significant shift, from the typical vertically-accentuated Saljuq tomb tower towards domed mausoleums with elaborate interior spaces.
The mausoleum consists of an enormous brick cube, approximately 27 m square crowned by a large double-shell dome nearly 18 m in diameter. Arched corner galleries run along the upper story. The gallery façade’s alternate pointed-arch and triangular-arch bays create solid-void compositions that harmonize with two rows of blind arches along the dome’s base. The mausoleum’s square brick mass has two gateways in the east and west elevations. The brick exterior is decorated with plaster carved to simulate brick bonds and embellished with terracotta panels. The elevations also exhibit traces of stucco treatment and holes left behind by scaffolding erected for repeated restoration efforts. The galleries are elaborately adorned with terracotta patterns and alternate panels of carved brickwork. The outer dome was once embellished with turquoise tiles, but only its interlaced structural ribs exist today.
The mausoleum is much revered and has been restored several times. The dome was restored in 1911, and the galleries were largely rebuilt in recent decades. Unfortunately, much of the 12th century terracotta ornament is feared to have been lost in insensitive reconstruction projects during the 1990s. The monument and the cultural park of ancient Marv were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
