Byzantine Mosaic of Hercules' 11th Labor

Byzantine Mosaic of Hercules' 11th Labor

In 2016, federal authorities in Los Angeles seized a 1 ton, 15-foot long ancient mosaic of Hercules’ 11th labor from a naturalized Syrian man living in Palmdale, CA. The government alleged the massive mosaic was looted in war-torn Syria and smuggled into the United States with falsified documents. The FBI had been investigating the owner of the mosaic, Mohamad Yassin Alcharihi, since 2015, when he hired the company Soo Hoo Customs Brokers to import the mosaic through the port of Long Beach.

The mosaic was imported along with two other mosaics and 81 modern vases and declared as “ornamental art” and “ceramic tiles” with a total declared value of $2,199. Alcharihi said he had purchased the mosaics and vases from Ahmet Bostanci in Defne-Hatay, Turkey in 2015. A letter found in Alchahiri's safe offered another false provenance for the mosaic, purporting that Alchahiri bought the “mosaic carpet” in a 2009 yard sale from his neighbor, who claimed to have had it in the family since 1970.

But Alchahiri told a prospective buyer a more revealing story about their true origin: “The mosaic piece was found in a destructed historical building in Ariha county in Idleb city, North western of Syria” on land owned by his family. Alchahiri claimed the picture of the mosaic was taken in situ in 2010 by the person who removed the mosaic “after obtaining a removal and transfer permit” and sent it to Turkey for restoration. In the email, Alchahiri included an image showing the mosaics in situ.

Idlib, in the northwest corner of Syrian near the Turkish border, has been at the center of fierce fighting between President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces and opposition fighters and ISIS off and on since 2011. In late 2014 the city was the focus of a rebel offensive against government forces that included Al Nusra, an Al Qaeda affiliated rebel group.

Alchahiri had paid about $12,000 for the mosaic. Alchahiri’s associate obtained an estimate of $100,000 to $200,000 market value for the mosaic and sent pictures of it to an unnamed UK auction house. (A list of items seized during the FBI raid includes a reference to Heritage Auctions, a Dallas TX based auction house with an office in London that specializes in ancient coins.) When the auction house inquired about its provenance, the associate was forthcoming: Syria.

“As long has you have documentation/proof that they left Syria before 2010, we might be able to accept these if they are legally shipped to the UK,” the auction house responded, according to court records. The auction house later offered an estimate of 40,000 to 60,000 British Pounds, or USD$60,000 to $91,000. The sale never took place.

In a petition filed in October 2016, Alchahiri challenged the government seizure and submitted a raft of documents to support his claim that the mosaic was legally exported. The 70+ pages of attachments to his petition offered new details on the case, including photos of the extensive restoration done by Stephen J. Miotto of Miotto Mosaics Art Studios.

The mosaic was seized by law enforcement and Alcharihi was convicted by a jury in June 2023 of one federal count of entry of falsely classified goods. In Aug, 2024 he was sentenced to three months in prison for false declaration of the import.

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Visual Work – paintings, frescos, mosaics

Byzantine

Heritage Auctions

Syria

Jason Felch

Damien Huffer