Family mortified after little boy smashes 3,500-year-old museum artefact

Child and ‘shocked’ family have been invited back to the museum for a private tour

A four-year-old child accidentally smashed a Bronze Age jar into pieces at the Hecht Museum in Israel.

The child and his family were visiting the museum at Haifa University last week when the boy “pulled the jar slightly” out of curiosity. The 3,500-year-old jar, which was not behind protective glass, tumbled to the ground and shattered into several pieces.

The artefact dates to between 2200 and 1500 BC, the museum said, adding that it had been on display near the entrance.

The museum believes there is a “special charm” in displaying artefacts without barriers or glass walls to make archaeological findings more accessible to the public, Dr Inbal Rivlin, the museum’s general manager, told The Independent.

Bronze Age urns in Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa (Hecht Museum)

The child’s father, Alex, said he was “in shock” to see his son next to the broken artefact and at first thought it couldn’t be his child who caused such damage.

Alex told the BBC that, after calming his visibly upset son, he informed a security guard about the incident.

The museum said it would not involve the police as the displayed items were broken unintentionally and invited the child and his family back to the exhibition for an organised tour.

“The jar was accidentally damaged by a young child visiting the museum, and the response will be accordingly,” Dr Rivlin said. The family will visit the museum this weekend for the organised tour to “sweeten together the previous experience at the museum”, she added.

The rare intact jar predates the time of Biblical King David and King Solomon and is characteristic of the Canaan region on the Mediterranean coast, the manager said. The “impressive find” was intended for the storage and transportation of mostly wine and olive oil.

The museum has reached out to a specialist in conservation to restore the shattered jar, which they expect would be returned to its place in “a short time”.

“The Hecht Museum will also take the opportunity to document the conservation work so that it can be presented to the public as well – so soon the jar will be visible again, along with the work that facilitated its ‘rescue’,” Dr Rivlin added.

The boy’s father told the broadcaster he was “relieved” to see the jar restored but apologised because “it will no longer be the same item”.

The Hecht Museum would “continue this tradition” of displaying artefacts without barriers to enhance public experience despite the “rare incident”, the manager added.