Four-year-old kid accidentally breaks 3,500-year-old jar in Israel’s museum
Tel Aviv: A 3,500-year-old jar from the Middle Bronze Age, once used for oil and wine in ancient Canaan, was accidentally shattered by a young boy at Israel’s Hecht Museum in Haifa last week. The incident occurred when a 4-year-old curious child, visiting the museum with his family, tried to peer inside the jar, causing it to topple from its metal stand and break into pieces.
The Hecht Museum is known for its practice of displaying priceless archaeological items without glass barriers to enhance visitor experience. “The jar on display at the Hecht Museum, however, was intact, and its size made it an impressive find, positioned at the entrance of the museum,” Dr Inbal Rivlin, the museum’s general director, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday, as mentioned by The New York Times.
The Hecht Museum, part of the University of Haifa, said the pitcher, dating from between 2200 and 1500 B.C., predating the era of King David and his son and successor, King Solomon would be professionally restored in a process that would also be open for the public to watch, according to the report.
Despite the accident, Dr Rivlin noted that the museum will continue to maintain its open-display policy for artefacts. “There are instances where display items are intentionally damaged, and such cases are treated with great severity, including involving the police,” Dr Rivlin said. However, this incident was not intentional, he added. The family, who was not identified, has been invited back for a visit to see the restored piece.
Dr. Reuben Hecht, who passed away in 1993, was an influential Israeli industrialist and philanthropist who donated his extensive collection of Middle Eastern archaeological artefacts and 19th-century paintings to the museum.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ex-CJI Chandrachud removed fear of law from political defectors, claims Sanjay Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday slammed former Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, alleging that he had removed the fear of the law from politicians who defected from parties in Maharashtra.
Raut claimed that by not deciding on the disqualification petitions, Chandrachud kept doors and windows open for defections.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader's statement comes after his party faced a severe drubbing in the state assembly elections, as it managed to clinch only 20 out of 95 seats it contested as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The performance of the party's alliance partners was no better, with the Congress winning only 16 out of 101 seats and NCP (SP) getting only 10 out of 86 seats it contested.
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged, "He (Chandrachud) has removed the fear of the law from defectors. His name will be written in black letters in history."
Following the split in the undivided Shiv Sena in 2022, the party's faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray filed petitions in the Supreme Court on the disqualification of party MLAs who defected along with Eknath Shinde. The apex court put the onus on the assembly Speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions, which he did earlier this year, declaring the Sena bloc led by Shinde as the “real political party”.
Raut alleged that the results of the assembly election were pre-decided. If the then CJI had decided on the disqualification petitions on time, the outcome would have been different.
"We are sad but not disappointed. We will not leave the fight incomplete. Division of votes was also a factor, and the RSS played an important role in the election. The poisonous campaign impacted us negatively," he said.
He said the swearing-in ceremony for the new government should be held in neighbouring Gujarat.
Meanwhile, in his weekly column "Rokhthok" in the party mouthpiece "Saamana", the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader claimed that it was time to offer condolences to the Election Commission, which turned a blind eye to the use of money power.
"The courts have been in the ICU for a long time," he alleged.
