Offering Box (Arca) and Key
about A.D. 130–180
Bronze
A bronze offering box with a pagoda-like roof sits on four clawed feet. A small key rests on the surface in front of the box. Resting on a base supported by lions' paws, this bronze arca or offering box takes the form of a miniature hexagonal structure. A roof composed of six curved sections surmounts the six joined panels forming the body. A cutting on the top of the roof served as a deposit slot, and traces on either side of this slot show that a statuette originally stood on the top of the offering box. In order to empty the box, a small door on one side opened with a key. This offering box was found in France in a hoard that also included a Pair of Portrait Busts (89.AB.67) and the Statuette of Mars/Cobannus (96.AB.54). True, Marion, and Kenneth Hamma,
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