SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A crash resounded recently at the Hecht Museum in Haifa, Israel. A 4-year-old boy, as 4-year-olds will do, tugged at a jar that was on display near the museum entrance to get a peek inside. According to the BBC, his father heard something shatter. Uh-oh. Then, he saw his son in distress, standing beside the ruins.
The museum says the formerly intact jar - now left in shards - is more than 3,500 years old. As the museum statement put it, it predates the time of King David and King Solomon - probably would have been used to keep and transport supplies like olive oil and wine. Of course, 4-year-olds' curiosity has been breaking all kinds of things since ancient times.
When I saw the story of the jar this week, I began to imagine a family at home one night in the land of Canaan during the Bronze Age. Is that son I hear in the pantry? asks the father. Probably, says the mother, looking for a snack. Be careful with that olive jar, son, the father calls out. I lugged it all the way from - crash, tears, pot shards.
Museum personnel say they're not upset at the little boy or his family. The Hecht Museum believes in placing ancient items out in the open rather than in display cases so observers will feel closer to them. The jar was accidentally damaged by a young child visiting the museum, Dr. Inbal Rivlin, the museum's general manager, told The Independent, and the response will be accordingly. He invited the family back this weekend for an organized tour to sweeten together the previous experience at the museum.
The jar will be restored by specialists as best they can. I like to think that when it's back on display, the jar will take on a new value. It'll be a remnant of the past but touched by our times, too. I can imagine adding a plaque that says something like, Bronze Age jar, Southern Levant vessel, once believed to carry olive oil and wine, inadvertently broken in 2024 by a small boy who was frightened, sorry and instantly forgiven, restored by contemporary artisans who commend his curiosity.
Ancient artifacts are finite and fragile. But as it says in Proverbs, wisdom is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare.
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