125 14 Authepsa: A Singular Brass Container from Augusta Emerita (Mérida, Spain). History and Interpretation of the Object Rafael Sabio González, Cristina Isabel Mena Méndez National Museum of Roman Art, Mérida Independent researcher rafael.sabio@cultura.gob.es Abstract: This paper presents a hitherto unknown and never exhibited bronze receptacle from the collection of the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida (Badajoz, Spain). The object belongs to the museum’s historical collection and was located by the authors of this paper in the reserve collections. This oval receptacle has a hole in its upper section into which a tubular element is inserted. The object is thought to be a kitchen, or medical utensil for heating or cooling liquids held inside the receptacle by means of hot coals or ice placed in the tubular element. By inserting one part into the other, the temperature of the frst is transferred to the content of the second without the heating or cooling material coming into contact with the foodstuf. Keywords: Authepsa; Augusta Emerita; Roman bronze vessel 1. Introduction The permanent collection of the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida (Badajoz, Spain) houses an important collection of bronze fnds, most of which date to the Early Imperial period and were found at the Mérida site. Among the fnds is an interesting receptacle (inv. no 13591) which has never been exhibited. The shape of the object suggests an as-yet undocumented kitchen utensil from the colony, , of which there is only one recorded from across the entire Iberian Peninsula (Tomasevic Buck 2002). It has been difcult to properly identify the object, not only because of its unusual typology but because of the complex story behind its entry into the collection. We address both aspects in detail in this paper 1 . 2. Description The object in question consists of two separate elements which we will call A and B. The second (B) can be inserted in the hole in the frst (A) (Fig. 14.1). 1 This work is part of the project titled InterArq- Arqueología e interdisciplinariedad: una investigación arqueológico-histórica sobre las relaciones interdisciplinares en la historia de la arqueología española (siglos XIX y XX) (InterArq Archaeology and Interdisciplinary Working: An Archaeological and Historical Investigation into Interdisciplinary Relationships in the History of Spanish Archaeology (19th and 20th Centuries), HAR2016-334033/Hist, funded by the State Research Agency (Spanish acronym AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, EU). Element A is a receptacle 21 cm high with a maximum diameter of 20.5 cm. It has a fat bottom with a 11.5 cm diameter, an ovoid body and an opening with a fat rim around the tightly ftting insert B (it is currently separate but would originally have been joined to the rim). The body has various holes, particularly on the lower third of its surface, and is crossed by various precisely incised horizontal lines, some of which run in pairs. Halfway up Figure 14.1. General view of the authepsa inv. no. 13591 (MNAR Photographic Archive/Lorenzo Plana).