Israel Museum Reinvites Child Who Broke 3,500-Year-Old Jar

Providing Opportunities to Experience Artifact Restoration Process

A boy who accidentally broke a 3,500-year-old jar displayed in a museum was invited by the museum to revisit the site.

A 3,500-year-old jar exhibited in a museum in Israel was damaged due to the mistake of a 4-year-old child. On the 27th (local time), the British BBC reported that a jar made during the Bronze Age between 2200 BC and 1500 BC at the Hecht Museum in Haifa, Israel, was broken by the mistake of a 4-year-old boy and is currently undergoing restoration work.
[Photo by Hecht Museum website]

According to local media and foreign reports on the 1st, Ariel, a four-year-old boy who accidentally dropped and broke a Bronze Age jar exhibited at the Hecht Museum in Haifa, Israel, returned to the museum to a warm welcome.

Last month, Ariel visited the Hecht Museum with his family and, out of curiosity about what was inside the jar, accidentally broke it. The museum had displayed the artifact so that visitors could see it directly without protective barriers such as glass walls.

The jar, believed to have been made between 2200 and 1500 BCE to hold wine or oil, had been exhibited at the Hecht Museum for 35 years.

After confirming that Ariel did not break the jar intentionally, the museum invited Ariel's family to the museum to observe the restoration process. Director Inbar Rivlin said, "We wanted to use this opportunity educationally and also make Ariel's family feel welcomed."

Ariel returned to the museum a week after the accident, gifted a clay vase to the museum, and received an explanation about the restoration process. The museum is using 3D technology to restore the jar and expects to display it again as early as next week.