Mervyn (Merv) Leslie Hunter (23 February 1926 – 2 January 2013) was an Australian politician. He was the state Member of Parliament for the electorate of Lake Macquarie representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1969 to 1991 and was the Shire President of the City of Lake Macquarie in 1969, resigning to enter the NSW Parliament . His son Jeff Hunter was the member for Lake Macquarie from 1991 to 2007.
He was a fitter and turner by trade. He was educated at Adamstown Primary School, Newcastle Junior High School, Junee High School and Newcastle Technical College. He apprenticed as a fitter and turner, previously fitter and machinist.
Hunter joined the Australian Labor Party in 1959. He was President of the New South Wales Parliamentary Labor Party, Member of Caucas committees on Local Government; Water Resources; Housing; Mineral Resources; Industry and Small Business; Energy and Technology.
Hunter was the Shire President of the Shire of Lake Macquarie in 1969 and Deputy President from 1965 to 1969. He served in the Shire of Lake Macquarie as an Alderman from 1962 to 1971. He left Local Government after the expiry of his term as an Alderman to continue on in his position as member for Lake Macquarie.
Merv (Turkmen: Merw, Persian: مرو, Marv), formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria (Ἀλεξάνδρεια) and Antiochia in Margiana (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια τῆς Μαργιανῆς), was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near today's Mary in Turkmenistan.
Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of culture and politics at a site of major strategic value. It is claimed that Merv was briefly the largest city in the world in the 12th century. The site of ancient Merv has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. (See List of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan)
Merv's origins are prehistoric: archaeological surveys have revealed many traces of village life as far back as the 3rd millennium BC and that the city was culturally part of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex. Under the name of Mouru, Merv is mentioned with Balkh in the geography of the Zend-Avesta (commentaries on the Avesta). Mouru was among the sixteen perfect lands created by Ahura Mazda.
Merv often refers to the Central Asian city: Merv.
It may also refer to the historical Merv (East Syrian Ecclesiastical Province)
Merv may be a nickname for Mervin or Mervyn, variants of Marvin:
Merv was a metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the fifth and eleventh centuries, with several known suffragan dioceses.
At least one East Syrian diocese in Khorasan existed by the beginning of the fifth century, though it was not assigned to a metropolitan province in 410. After establishing five metropolitan provinces in Mesopotamia, Canon XXI of the synod of Isaac provided that 'the bishops of the more remote dioceses of Fars, of the Islands, of Beth Madaye, of Beth Raziqaye and of the country of Abrashahr must accept the definition established in this council at a later date'. By implication, Abrashahr (Nishapur) already had a bishop at this period.
Four East Syrian dioceses in Khorasan and Segestan are attested a few years later. The bishops Bar Shaba of Merv, David of Abrashahr, Yazdoï of Herat and Aphrid of Segestan were present at the synod of Dadishoʿ in 424. The uncommon name of the bishop of Merv, Bar Shaba, means 'son of the deportation', suggesting that Merv's Christian community may have been deported from Roman territory.