HISTORY OF VASBOURAGAN
Lake Van, which played a central role in the cultural evolution of Urartu in Assyrian times, lies at the height of 5,640 feet above sea level. It is about eighty miles long from east-north--east to west-south--west, and thirty five miles across between Suphan and Gevash, where it is widest. Roughly triangular in shape, it covers 1,460 square miles; its waters, rich in sodium carbonate, are unpleasant to taste. The Lake is bordered by fertile arable plains on the north and east sides; these are hemmed in by lava deposits which have impinged on their edges. The cultivated land is also punctured by volcanic thrusts, now surrounded by cones. The ruins of the ancient city of Van, and the new Turkish town nearby, stand on the eastern shore of the Lake. Three main streams drain into Lake Van from the east: Bendimahi, Kara Su, and Hoshap. These are the surviving upper reaches of rivers drowned by the Lake when the Nemrut natural dam was formed in the remote past.
It must always be remembered that by the time the first Indo-European arrived in Asia Minor, human civilization already had its own ancient tradition in the regions of Lake Van and Mount Ararat.
The Armenian national chronicle (Book I, Chap 16) attributed to Moses of Khoren, tell the story of Queen Semiramis of Assyria (Shamiram) and her fruitless passion of the Armenian prince Ara the Fair, for the love of whom Semiramis invaded Armenia with a countless army. Ara was killed in battle, rather than yield to the queen’s impetuous desires. After Ara’s death, the despairing Semiramis left the fertile valley of the Araxes and retreated towards the south. At length she arrived on the eastern shore of a great salt lake—Lake Van—where she caught sight of a high rocky hill running from east to west, its northern side sloping gradually to the plain beneath, its southern edge rising towards heaven, rugged and precipitous. At the foot of this great hill were streams of fresh water, and a number of flourishing villages.
The chronicler tells of how Semiramis fell in love with this spot, and built there a magnificent city with stone houses, public baths, and wide streets, while the suburbs were rich in gardens, orchards and vineyards. A network of irrigation channels assured the townspeople and villagers ample supplies of water. The inner town was surrounded by a strong wall, with bronze gates.
Semiramis, herself, selected a site on the summit of the lofty crag, where the remains of the citadel now stand. There she built the royal palace, ‘secret and awesome to the view’, grander than all the other splendid edifices of her capital. None was privileged to view the inner treasures of this palace, Moses of Khorene tells us; however, the visitor could see upon the sheer cliff face the entrance to the queen’s temples and apartments, which had been carved into the rock face and relating the exploits of Queen Semiramis. There were written in a script which no man living could read or decipher.
Such is the medieval, half-legendary story of the foundation of Van. Thomas Ardsruni, a scion of the royal house of Vaspurakan, describes the wealth and splendor of the reign of King Gagik, founder of the dynasty. The walls of King Gagik’s palace on the island of Aghtamar or Lake Van, were decorated with paintings of ‘gilt thrones, on which are seated, in gracious majesty, the king surrounded by young pates with resplendent faces, groups of musicians and marvelous maidens. Nobody who today gazes at the ruins of old Van would guess that they once sheltered up to a hundred thousand souls and were renowned entrepots of trade, and the center of royal or vice-regal courts.
Copied from David Marshall Lang’s ARMENIA Cradle of Civilization. 1970
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