It’s every parent’s worst nightmare.
During a visit to the Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa in Israel, the father of a five-year-old was shocked to see his son next to the broken Bronze Age vessel.
The boy’s father told the BBC that he initially thought, “That wasn’t my child,” but after his son calmed down, he told museum guards what had happened.
The museum said it would not punish the child for the incident because it was a genuine accident.
“There are cases in which exhibits are deliberately damaged. Such cases are punished very harshly, including involving the police,” says Lihi Laszlo, a spokeswoman for the University of Haifa, which runs the museum.
Sky News reported that the vessel has been in the museum for 35 years.
The museum explained that it dates from the Bronze Age between 2200 and 1500 BC, before King David, and was used to store and transport local supplies, especially wine and olive oil.
Similar vessels have been found during archaeological excavations, but most of them were broken or incomplete, making this vessel particularly rare due to its intact condition.
The vessel was displayed without glass barriers near the museum entrance – an unusual practice for museums, but one that was in keeping with the founder’s vision of making archaeological objects accessible to the public, said museum director Inbal Rivlin.
“The museum believes that there is a special charm in experiencing an archaeological find without any disturbance, and despite the rare incident with the vessel, the Hecht Museum will continue this tradition,” Rivlin said in a statement to BI.
Rivlin publicly invited the boy and his family to an organized tour of the museum later this week and they have agreed to participate.
In addition, a conservation specialist has been commissioned to restore the vessel and it is expected that it will soon be restored to its original glory.
