If someone working an archaeological dig unearths an ancient idol, are they obligated to destroy it?
Q. If one is working on an archaeological dig and finds an artifact related to idolatry, especially an idol itself, is one obligated to then destroy it or can they pass it on to a non-Jew present or what should he do?
There is an almost definite halachic probability (“chazaka”), that over time, the idol was annulled by the gentile idolaters themselves, for they saw that their god doesn’t help, and that mankind, in general, has already grown-out of such childish thoughts of physical gods. Accordingly, you need not break the idol, but I believe the law obligates to pass it over to the National Antiquities Authority who will present it with other primitive and outdated objects who even the gentiles don’t serve anymore.
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