Boy, 4, Forgiven for Breaking 3,500-Year-Old Jar
Taking children to museums is a great way to make them curious about the world and its history.
But when children get curious, they want to touch things, hold things, push them and pull them!
That's exactly what a 4-year-old boy did when he was visiting a museum in Israel this August.
At the Hecht Museum in the city of Haifa, many artifacts are not in glass cases, because the museum likes them to be seen "without obstructions."
So that meant the boy was able to touch a 3,500-year-old jar. That's pretty cool — or at least it was, until the jar fell and smashed into pieces.
The boy's father, Alex Geller, said his son pulled the jar a little because he wanted to see what was inside.
The jar was quite unique, because when it was found it was in one piece, even though it's thought to have been made between 2200 and 1500 BC.
It had been at the museum for 35 years, and was near the entrance when it was broken.
As soon as it was smashed, the museum took it away to be restored.
Alex Geller said he was sorry the jar would no longer be the same as it once was.
However, the museum said it knew the jar was broken by accident, and invited the family to visit again.
The boy and his family returned a week later and were given a special tour.
The museum said it still has no plans to put its artifacts in glass cases.
