Biertan Donarium

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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 ZENOVIUS VOTUM POSVI, which can be approximatively translated as "I, Zenovius, offered this gift".

It was found in 1775 in the Chimdru forest, about 5 km 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.

This donarium was used as an argument for the existence of a Latin-speaking Christian population in Dacia^[1] (possibly the ancestors of Romanians) following the Aurelian Retreat.

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ Constantin C. Giurescu, Dinu C. Giurescu, Istoria românilor din cele mai vechi timpuri şi pînă azi, Editura Albatros, Bucureşti, 1971, p. 155.