TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze Age vessel accidentally smashed by a four-year-old museum visitor was put back on display on Wednesday after restoration experts carefully reassembled the artifact.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son knocked over the vessel, causing it to shatter into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son – the youngest of three children – was exceptionally curious and when he heard the impact, the first thing that went through his mind was: “Please don’t let that be my child.”
The vessel has been on display in the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the few vessels of its size and from that period that was still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age vessel is one of many artifacts on display outdoors and fits the Hecht Museum’s vision of bringing history to visitors without glass barriers, says Inbal Rivlin, director of the museum, which is affiliated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was probably used to store wine or oil and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 BC.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn this moment, which attracted international attention, into a teaching moment. invites the Geller family again for a special visit and a hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident was a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a child. So I think it somehow touches the hearts of people in Israel and around the world,” Rivlin said.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs were relatively simple because the pieces came from a single, complete vessel. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from different objects and trying to piece them together.
Using 3D technology, high-resolution videos and special glue, experts painstakingly reconstructed the large vessel.
Less than two weeks after the breakage, the vessel was put back on display in the museum. The gluing process has left small hairline cracks and a few pieces are missing, but the vessel’s impressive size has remained.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibition was a new sign that read “Please do not touch.”
