A 5-year-old child accidentally broke a 3,500-year-old artifact at the museum

The museum said it would not punish the child for the incident because it was a real accident.

“There are cases where objects on display are intentionally damaged, and such cases are dealt with very severely, including with the involvement of the police,” said Lihi Laszlo, a spokesman for the University of Haifa, which runs the museum.

The jar has been at the museum for 35 years, Sky News reported.

The museum said it dates back to the Bronze Age between 2200 and 1500 BC, before the time of King David, and was intended to store and transport local supplies, mainly wine and olive oil.

Similar jars have been found in archaeological digs, but most have been found broken or incomplete, making this jar particularly rare due to its intact condition.

The jar was displayed near the museum’s entrance without glass barriers — an unusual practice for museums, but consistent with the founder’s vision of making archaeological objects accessible to the public, museum director Inbal Rivlin said.

“The museum believes there is a special charm in experiencing an archaeological discovery without any hindrance, and despite the rare incident with the jar, the Hecht Museum will continue this tradition,” Rivlin told BI in a statement.

Rivlin publicly invited the boy and his family to an organized tour of the museum later this week, which they agreed to attend.

A conservationist has also been asked to restore the jar, and it is expected to be restored to its former glory soon.