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“Exceptional” mosaic uncovered under Syrian house

<p dir="ltr">A virtually intact mosaic that is 1600 years old has been uncovered in central Syria and is said to be the rarest of its kind.</p> <p dir="ltr">The mosaic, measuring 20 x 6 metres, was found under a building in Rastan in northern Syria’s Homs province, which has been besieged since 2011.</p> <p dir="ltr">With many of Syria’s cultural items and archaeological finds being damaged after more than a decade of war, the discovery of this intact mosaic has been described as the most important archaeological find since the start of the conflict.</p> <p dir="ltr">"What is in front of us is a discovery that is rare on a global scale," Hamman Saad, a senior official at Syria’s General Directorate of Museums and Antiquities, told the Associated Press.</p> <p dir="ltr">The mosaic depicts mythical scenes of the Trojan and Amazon wars, including the Roman sea god Neptune and 40 of his mistresses, as well as Hercules slaying Amazonian queen Hippolyta.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-68859dcd-7fff-184a-65eb-20ae5833bfe5"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The General Directorate of Museums and Antiquities shared the news on social media, along with images of the mosaic and excavation process, describing the find as “one of the most important paintings technically and archeologically, it may be exceptional and rare worldwide”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/mosaic-syria1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /><em>The huge mosaic was uncovered underneath a house in Rastan, northern Syria. Image: DGAM (Facebook)</em></p> <p dir="ltr">While Syria has been considered a treasure trove for archaeologists since it is home to some of the most well-preserved relics from ancient civilisations, many of these items have been destroyed or looted during the civil war.</p> <p dir="ltr">It has also fuelled a black market selling small items such as coins and statuettes, as reported by the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63240648">BBC</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The mosaic was first found in 2018 during the drilling and exploration of a house in Rastan, with the General Directorate of Museums and Antiquities saying that it dates back to the 4th century AD.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-b503a025-7fff-9414-0876-84b5361983c3"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: DGAM (Facebook)</em></p>

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2,000-year-old mosaic rediscovered as artsy coffee table

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A 2,000-year-old Italian mosaic that disappeared during World War II has emerged almost 7,000 kilometres away, under a cup of coffee.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The mosaic, originally commissioned by Emperor Caligula, was found by Italian ancient stone expert Dario Del Bufalo, who retold the story on CBS’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">60 Minutes</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Del Bufalo had been giving a lecture about the common rock Roman emperors used and handing out signed copies of his book </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Porphyry</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> when he overheard a man and woman talking about a picture of the long-lost mosaic in the book.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There was a lady with a young guy with a strange hat that came to the table,” Mr Del Bufalo told </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roman-emperor-caligula-coffee-table-60-minutes-2021-11-21/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CBS</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “And he told her, ‘What a beautiful book. Oh, Helen, look, that’s your mosaic.’ And she said, ‘Yeah, that’s my mosaic.’”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After tracking down the unknown woman, Mr Del Bufalo discovered that her name was Helen Fioratti, who lived in New York working as an art dealer and gallery owner.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846173/mosaic1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b42ce8f23e804a99b2459ff5741f9575" /></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">A picture of the mosaic appeared in Dario Del Bufalo’s book ‘Porphyry’. Image: 60 Minutes (YouTube)</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In an interview with </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>The New York Times</em></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Ms Fioratti said she and her husband bought the mosaic from a noble Italian family in the 1960s. When it arrived in the US, the couple turned it into a coffee table.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It was an innocent purchase,” she told the publication. “It was our favourite thing and we had it for 45 years.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the pair’s affection for the piece, the Manhattan district attorney’s office seized the mosaic, saying it had been stolen from a museum.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“These items may be beautiful and storied, and immensely valuable to collectors, but willfully disregarding the provenance of an item is effectively offering tacit approval of a harmful practice that is, fundamentally, criminal,” New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said in a statement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846174/mosaic2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/ff5cd4ae477f4bff97977fe52c7c13e5" /></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The lost mosaic was transformed into a coffee table by the New York art dealer.Image: 60 Minutes (YouTube)</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Del Bufalo </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://happymag.tv/roman-mosaic-returned-to-museum-after-being-used-as-a-coffee-table/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> he felt very sorry for Ms Fioratti, but that it was important that the mosaic returned to where it belonged.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I couldn’t do anything different, knowing that my museum in Nemi is missing the best part that went through the centuries, through the war, through a fire, and then through an Italian art dealer, and finally could go back to the museum,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He added that he wants to make a copy of the piece for Ms Fioratti to replace her lost coffee table.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That’s the only thing I felt I should have done,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think my soul would feel a little better.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images</span></em></p>

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