A rare pot from the Bronze Age accidentally run over by 4 year old child The museum tour was put on display again on Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully reconstruct the artifact.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son knocked over the jar, which shattered into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, told CBS News partner BBC News that his son, the youngest of three children, was “curious about what was inside” the container. The moment he heard the sound of the crash, the thought “please make sure it’s not my child” crossed his mind, he said.
Mahmoud Illéan / AP
The jar, which dates from between 2200 and 1500 B.C. and was probably used to hold wine or oil, has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only vessels of this size and period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age pot is one of several objects on display outdoors, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision to allow visitors to explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, director of the museum, which is associated with the University of Haifa in northern Israel.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the incident, which garnered international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special tour and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Maya Alleruzzo / AP
Rivlin added that the incident was a welcome diversion from the ongoing war in Gaza. “He’s just a child. So I think in some way it touches the hearts of people in Israel and around the world,” Rivlin said.
Geller told the BBC he was “shocked” when he saw the damage, but Roee Shafir, a conservation expert at the museum, said repairs would be fairly straightforward because the pieces came from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more difficult task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, high-resolution videos and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large pot.
Mahmoud Illéan / AP
Less than two weeks after its breakage, the jar was put on display at the museum. The gluing process left small cracks and some pieces are missing, but the impressive size of the jar is still there. The relic remains accessible to the public, without any glass protection.
The only notable difference in the exhibit was a new sign that read “Please Do Not Touch.”
