Archaeologists working at the ancient site of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt have uncovered a papyrus containing a passage from Homer’s Iliad inside a Roman-era mummy dating back about 1,600 years, according to ScienceDaily and the University of Barcelona’s Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission.
The find was made in the Al Bahnasa necropolis, the modern location of ancient Oxyrhynchus. Researchers say the papyrus had been deliberately placed on the mummy’s abdomen as part of the embalming ritual.
Project members say this is the first known case in archaeological history where a Greek literary text was intentionally incorporated into the mummification process. Previous discoveries of Greek papyri in similar contexts were ritual or magical texts, not literary works.
The fragment was studied during a second research campaign and identified as part of the “Catalogue of Ships” in Book II of the Iliad. The excavation team also reported other Roman-era burials, including limestone chambers, mummies, and decorated wooden sarcophagi, though many of the tombs had been damaged by looting.
