Biertan Donarium Explained

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 Latin: 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 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 several 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 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.^[2] This opinion is supported by the Romanian Academy.

The donor's name (see Zenobius) is oriental, not Dacian or Roman.^[3]

Those historians who are skeptical about this object point to the dubious circumstances of this finding.^[4]

They emphasize that there were no Roman settlements or Christian churches near to Biertan.^[5] According to them this object was made in Aquileia in Northern Italy during the 4th century^{[6] [7]} and it was carried into Transylvania as a loot by Gothic warriors or by trading.^[8] It is the most possible that the find from Biertan is a result of plundering in Illyricum or Pannonia or in the Balkans anytime between the fourth and the sixth century and this artifact was reused as a pagan object by its new owners.^{[9] [10]}

The object could have also belonged to a captured Roman(?), escaped or kidnapped from Pannonia (?)^[11]

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 vessels or other goods. According to this opinion, even its usage for Christian purposes should be questioned in the territory of Transylvania.

Notes and references

1. Constantin C. Giurescu, Dinu C. Giurescu, Istoria românilor din cele mai vechi timpuri și pînă azi, Editura Albatros, București, 1971, p. 155.
2. The book offers details about most supposed early Christian finds in Romania Book: Barnea . Ion . Arta Crestina Vol I . 1979 . 30–31 . 7 December 2023 . ro.
3. Rubel . Alexander . Patrimonium Archaeologicum Transylvanicum . Sorin Cociş (Ed.), Archäologische Beiträge. Gedenkschrift zum Hundertsten Geburtstag von Kurt Horedt, Editura Mega, Cluj-Napoca, 2014 . Editura Mega . 2014 . Cociş . Sorin . 7. Das spätantike Donarium von Birthälm (Biertan) im Kontext der römischen Religion . . 243 . Alexander Rubel . Ursuţiu . Adrian.
4. Book: Gandila, Andrei . Cultural Encounters on Byzantium's Northern Frontier, c. AD 500–700 Coins, Artifacts and History . Cambridge University Press . 2018 . 108–109 . Christianity North of the Danube. 10.1017/9781108470421.004 . 978-1-108-66637-4 .
5. Book: Horedt, Kurt . Dacia - Revue d'archéologie et d'histoire ancienne, 23 . Institutul de Arheologie "Vasile Pârvan" . 1979 . Bucharest . 343 . German . Kleine Beiträge.
6. Book: Madgearu, Alexandru . Archeological Treasures of Romania - Dacian and Roman Roots . Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte . 2021 . 978-84-8181-771-3 . Spain . 346 . Post-Imperial Dacia and the Roman–Byzantine provinces of the Lower Danube (fourth–seventh century).
7. https://biblioteca-digitala.ro/?articol=19385-monede-dacice-aflate-in-colectia-muzeului-regional-brasov--cumidava--i-1967 Revista Cumidava Muzeul Istorie Brasov, 1967
8. Book: Fiedler, Uwe . Dacia - Revue d'archéologie et d'histoire ancienne, 40-42 . Editura Academiei Române . 1996–1998 . Bucharest . 389–397 . German . Biertan. Ein Zeugnis heidnischer Opfersitten im nachrömischen Siebenbürgen . https://biblioteca-digitala.ro/?articol=108206-biertan-ein-zeugnis-heidnischer-opfersitten-im-nachromischen-siebenburgen--dacia-revue-d-archeologie-et-d-histoire-ancienne-institutul-de-arheologie-vasile-parvan--40-42-1996-1998.
9. Book: Lăzărescu, Vlad-Andrei . Locuirea în Transilvania din ultimele decenii ale provinciei Dacia şi până la prăbuşirea "imperiului" hunic (250–450) . Academia Română, Centrul de Studii Transilvane . 2015 . 9786068694221 . Cluj-Napoca.
10. Gáll . Erwin . March 2017 . Áttörés a romániai régészetben (Vlad Andrei Lăzărescu könyvéről) . Kommentár . 2017/03.
11. Most Transylvanian Early Christian finds are uncertain concerning their contexts, dates and interpretations. Among the finds mentioned are a gem lost before 1848 with Good Shepherd and Jonah depictions, found at Torda; a Good Shepherd gem, from an unknown Transylvanian site (at Hungarian National Museum), a fake-suspicious inscribed vessel fragment with staurogram, from Porolissum; two cross-displayers, probably from Gyulafehérvár (Alba-Iulia). Book: Hudák . Krisztina . Methodological Introduction to the Pannonian Early Christian Church History through the Last Fifty Years of Pannonia (374-456) . 2019 . Pécsi Tudományegyetem . 20 .