A four-year-old boy accidentally broke a rare Bronze Age pottery that was on display at an archaeological museum in Haifa, Israel.
The 3,500-year-old artifact was on display near the entrance of the Hecht Museum without a glass case.
The child’s father told the BBC that his son “pulled the jar a bit” because he was “curious to know what was inside”. The man further said that he was “shocked” to see his son near the broken pieces and thought “this is not done by my child”.
Despite the “rare occurrence”, the museum said it intends to continue exhibiting the objects “without barriers or glass walls” as it believes there is a “special charm” in displaying archaeological finds “without barriers”.
“There are many cases where display objects are deliberately damaged, and such cases are taken very seriously, involving the police,” the museum’s Lihi Laszlo told the BBC.
“However, that was not the situation in this case. The jar was accidentally damaged by a young child who visited the museum, and action will be taken accordingly.”
The museum believes the jar dates to between 2200 and 1500 BCE and was probably used to carry local supplies such as wine and olive oil. It was found during excavations in Samaria in central Israel and has been in the museum for 35 years.
The museum said the artefact was “an impressive discovery”, as similar archaeological objects found during excavations are usually broken or incomplete.
The museum said an expert has been hired to restore the jar and it will be put on display again “in a short time.”
The boy’s father said he was “relieved” to know the jar would be recovered, but also sorry because “it won’t be the same object anymore”.
However, museum head Inbal Rivlin told Israeli news outlet Ynet that the boy and his mother have been invited back to the museum for a private tour.
“The museum is not a tomb but a living space, open to families (and) accessible. We are appealing to parents: don’t be afraid. Such things happen. We will fix (the jar) and put it back,” the museum head told Ynet.
