Four-Year-Old Boy Who Broke Ancient Jar Welcomed Back To Museum

Despite breaking a Bronze Age jar featured at Israel’s Hecht Museum last week, four-year-old Ariel Geller was welcomed back to the museum with open arms.

The jar had been on display in the museum for 35 years and was one of the only of its size and from that era still intact when discovered. The boy’s mom, Anna Geller, said her son is “exceptionally curious” and had a suspicion that he had been the one to break the jar when she heard it crash.

“It was just a distraction of a second,” she told CNN. “And the next thing I know, it’s a very big boom boom behind me.”

“I’m embarrassed,” she continued. “He told me he just wanted to see what was inside.”

Ariel’s father, Alex Geller, said he was “in complete shock” when he saw that his son had broken the jar. He immediately reported the accident to security and even offered to pay for any damage.

“They called and said it was insured and after they checked the cameras and saw it wasn’t vandalism they invited us back for a make-up visit,” Alex said.

The family was invited to return, and Ariel apologized by giving the museum a clay vase that he had made.

Roee Shafir, one of the restoration experts at the museum, said the repairs to the jar would be fairly simple. Despite the incident, he believes that important artifacts should remain accessible to visitors, and even encourages patrons to keep examining the objects.

“I like that people touch. Don’t break, but to touch things, it’s important,” he said.