Cristian Ioan POPA

Published in Music in Antiquity, Middle Ages & Renaissance

Keywords: Aquila symbol, Gothic Kabbalistic Inscription, Middle Ages, Silver Becker.

In the middle of the last century, a medieval treasure, made of gold and silver objects, was accidentally discovered in Transylvania on Vinerea (Cugir town). The hoard contained several precious metal objects and several hundred coins, out of which 396 are still preserved today, after a small part was stolen upon discovery. An extremely interesting item is the gold plated silver becker. On its surface was incised a ribbon that contains a text written in Gothic characters – nceirmoiahedrpma // indecmhpeoirsli. The text is most likely encrypted, making the message difficult to interpret. Towards the centre the ribbon is interrupted by the presence of a carefully incised aquila. The becker has analogies with similar items from Central Europe, datable around the year 1500. The aquila could be considered as a Christian symbol, in relation with Saint John’s (?) iconography.