Biertan Donarium
The Biertan Donarium is a fourth-century Christian votive object found near the town of Biertan, in Transylvania, Romania. Made out of bronze in the shape of a Labarum, it has the Latin text EGO ZENOVIVS VOTVM POSVI, which can be approximately translated as "I, Zenovius, offered this gift".
It was found in 1775 in the Chinedru forest, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Biertan and it was part of the collections of Baron Samuel von Brukenthal, nowadays being part of the exhibits of the Brukenthal National Museum.
There are two theories on the origins of this artifact. According to the supporters of the Daco-Romanian continuity theory, this donarium was made by the survivor Romanized, Latin-speaking Christian population population of Dacia[1] (the ancestors of Romanians according to this theory ) following the Aurelian Retreat. This artifact is used as an important witness to the continuity of the use of Latin in this area. This opinion is supported by the Romanian Academy.
The donor's name (see Zenobius) is of Greek origin, not Dacian or Roman.[2]
Those historians who are skeptical about the origin of this object point to other possible explanations. "While the religious interpretation remains in the realm of possibility, it should be allowed that the find from Biertan could be the result of plunder in Illyricum or Pannonia anytime between the fourth and the sixth century"[3][4][5]
They point out that there were no Roman settlements or Christian churches found near Biertan.[6] According to other sources this object was made in Aquileia in Northern Italy during the 4th century and probably hidden there by the people taken refuge when the towns were abandoned in the fifth or sixth century.[7] Or it was carried into Transylvania as a loot by Gothic warriors or by trading.[8]
Originally it was intended to be hung from a candelabrum but the perforations made later indicate it was reused and attached to a coffer for storing liturgical vessels.[7]
Notes and references
- ^ Constantin C. Giurescu, Dinu C. Giurescu, Istoria românilor din cele mai vechi timpuri și pînă azi, Editura Albatros, București, 1971, p. 155.
- ^ Rubel, Alexander (2014). Cociş, Sorin; Ursuţiu, Adrian (eds.). Patrimonium Archaeologicum Transylvanicum. Vol. 7. Das spätantike Donarium von Birthälm (Biertan) im Kontext der römischen Religion. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Mega. p. 243.
- ^ Gandila, Andrei (2018). "Christianity North of the Danube". Cultural Encounters on Byzantium's Northern Frontier, c. AD 500–700 Coins, Artifacts and History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 108–109.
- ^ Lăzărescu, Vlad-Andrei (2015). Locuirea în Transilvania din ultimele decenii ale provinciei Dacia şi până la prăbuşirea "imperiului" hunic (250–450). Cluj-Napoca: Academia Română, Centrul de Studii Transilvane. ISBN 9786068694221.
- ^ Gáll, Erwin (March 2017). "Áttörés a romániai régészetben (Vlad Andrei Lăzărescu könyvéről)" (PDF). Kommentár. 2017/03.
- ^ Horedt, Kurt (1979). "Kleine Beiträge". Dacia - Revue d'archéologie et d'histoire ancienne, 23 (in German). Bucharest: Institutul de Arheologie "Vasile Pârvan". p. 343.
- ^ a b Madgearu, Alexandru (2021). "Post-Imperial Dacia and the Roman–Byzantine provinces of the Lower Danube (fourth–seventh century)". Archeological Treasures of Romania - Dacian and Roman Roots (PDF). Spain: Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. p. 346. ISBN 978-84-8181-771-3.
- ^ Fiedler, Uwe (1996–1998). "Biertan. Ein Zeugnis heidnischer Opfersitten im nachrömischen Siebenbürgen". Dacia - Revue d'archéologie et d'histoire ancienne, 40-42 (in German). Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române. pp. 389–397.