EPHEMERIS NAPOCENSIS - Institutul de Arheologie şi Istoria Artei

Instrumentum Balnei from Roman Napoca
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exception of a bronze plate which was set into the rim (Pl. V/1). The bronze plate, representing
the fixed part of the closing system, displays two holes: an oval one positioned near
the rim (D: 9.4–10.7 mm) which allowed the liquid to exit and a small, circular central one
(D: 2.6 mm) which was used for fastening another mobile metal plate (lost today). This in
turn, provided with two small knobs, displayed a similar opening as the above mentioned oval
one and sealed its counterpart from the set plate by rotation. The vessel was recovered from
the excavation in a bad state of preservation (strongly oxidized, deformed body, base broken
from the body and fragmented in three parts) (Pl. 1/2). For this reason during the restoration
process, in order to ensure its stability, it was covered in some parts with a thick layer of
resin, process which determined important changes from the original shape, especially in the
area of the rim and of the base. In this situation, in order to reconstruct the original shape
of the vessel as accurately as possible, the technique of X-ray photography was employed
(Pl. IV/1–2). It can be observed very well that the exterior part of the rim was not straight,
but slightly reverted and that the original base had a smaller diameter than the one obtained
after restoration and it was less flared (Pl. IV/2). The X-ray offers also important details about
the technology employed in the manufacturing process of the vessel: the body was made from
two hemispherical parts joined in the point of the maximum diameter. The two joining lines
visible in the area of the rim show that this part was worked separately and subsequently
attached to the body; the rim, at its turn, was made out of two pieces of metal separated by
the bronze plate. It is not certain whether the base was also separately made or it was part of
the lower hemisphere. Taking into account that it was found broken and reattached during
restoration, this remains for the moment an open question.
The second vessel (Pl. VI/1, VIII/1a–d, IX/1a–d, 2, 3) (National History Museum
of Transylvania, Cluj‐Napoca, without inventory no.) was identified in room b, considered
to be an annex 17 belonging to the 2 nd phase of house C2 (Pl. II). The vessel was found on
the first floor near the place where the monetary hoard was hidden, together with a group of
metal objects: two bronze vessels (a jug of Millingen type and a handle from a Blechkanne),
two bronze candlesticks, a bronze statuette depicting a ram and several pieces of bronze sheet
with figural decoration 18 . It is not clear whether the objects were intentionally collected and
hidden or they were kept in a wooden chest or cupboard which was abandoned in a time of
danger. Thus, relying on the stratigraphic data, it can be asserted that the vessel was certainly
in use in the first half of the 3 rd century AD. The object made entirely of iron, was discovered
in a fragmentary state (Pl. IX/2–3), one of the handles was missing and it was reconstructed
during restoration. It presents a vertical rim, a narrow neck and a spherical body. It does not
have a base and the lower part of the body is slightly elongated, ending in a small protuberance.
The original handle, attached below the rim and ending with a leaf shaped appliqué,
still preserves half of a loop which was part of the hanging chain. It displays the following
dimensions: H: 100 mm; maximum body D: 82.8 mm; rim D: 38.9–41.6 mm and it weighs
259 g. The lid seems to present a similar system to the one described above: an upper mobile
plate presenting two knobs and a lower, fixed one. Since the vessel was restored it is not
possible anymore to observe the two oval openings that the plates should have had. Still,
based on the information offered by the X-ray (Pl. VII/1–2) it looks like the whole lid system
was worked separately and afterwards fitted inside the rim. Even if not very clear, the X-ray
seems to show a shallow line which could mark the limit between the plates. Concerning the
manufacturing process, besides the handles and the lid, the body of the vessel was made from
two different parts, an upper one together with the rim and a lower one, which are joined
above the line of the maximum diameter.
17
OPREANU 2008, 393.
18
COCIŞ ET AL. 1995, 637–638.