Days after a four-year-old kid unintentionally smashed an ancient jar at an archaeological museum in Israel, he was invited to the assemblage again on Saturday for a guided tour. Ariel Geller hit the headlines a few days ago when he accidentally shattered a 3500-year-old jar, placed at the entrance of the Hecht Museum in Haifa.
BBC shared a video of Ariel’s visit to the museum. It featured him dressed in a white t-shirt and denim shorts. He also wore a blue hat. The 4-year-old was accompanied by his parents, Anna and Alex Geller, on this guided tour. In a video interview with BBC, Anna talked about the incident and revealed that she was distracted by her daughter when Ariel accidentally damaged the ancient jar.
The boy “pulled the jar slightly” because he was “curious about what was inside,” said Ariel’s father, Alex. He added that when he saw his son next to the shattered pieces, he was “in shock” and immediately assumed that “my child hadn’t done it.”
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“At first, I was in shock,” Alex remarked. “Then I felt a bit angry with him.” Later, the couple went up to a security guard and admitted what transpired. However, they were not prepared for what came next. “Instead of levying penalties or fines, they extended an invitation for us to return,” Alex stated.
Reacting to the mishap, the museum’s head Inbal Rivlin told Israeli news outlet Ynet, “The museum is not a mausoleum but a living place, open to families (and) accessible. We are appealing to parents: Don’t be afraid. Things like this happen. We will fix (the jar) and put it back.”
The museum estimates that the jar was made between 2200 and 1500 BC, and was probably used to transport regional goods like olive oil and wine. It was found during central Israel’s Samaria excavations, and the museum has owned it for thirty-five years.
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