(3) LAKE VAN, called Arsissa Palus and also Thospitis from its Armenian names, is roughly rectangular 55 m. long and 4o broad, with a long north-eastern arm which increases the greatest length to 8o m. It stands about 5,26o ft. above sea-level. It is without an outlet, and its greatest depth is along the southern shore. It has constant steady fluctuations, rising and falling some 8 ft. in a periodic movement of five years. In the middle of the 19th cen tury a sudden rise submerged several places on the banks, includ ing Arjish Kale, and the waters did not again subside. The north eastern arm is much shallower than the rest. The water is bitter and undrinkable, being largely impregnated with carbonate and sulphate of soda with some borax. The salts are evaporated in pans, and called perek, being sold for washing purposes. There is, however, good water along the coast from springs and streams.
The lake has been navigated from the earliest times, and about 8o sailing boats, carrying about 20 tons burden, now ply on it, chiefly with wheat and firewood. Severe storms make navigation dangerous in winter. The southern shore is fringed by a steep range of mountains, with several thriving villages along the coast. The hills have now been almost denuded of trees. At the south eastern corner is the island of Akhtamar with its ancient church, erected (c. 928) by Gagig, first king of the Ardzrunian dynasty. The Catholicos of Akhtamar was one of the highest offices in the Armenian Church, and dated from 1113. Large numbers of darekh, a kind of herring, exist in the lake, and are caught in nets from boats or when they enter the shallow lagoons in the spring and summer. Either fresh or salted they form an important article of diet of the poorer people.