Archaeologists in Egypt have made an extraordinary discovery: a piece of Homer's famous poem, the Iliad, deliberately placed inside a Roman-era mummy around 1,600 years ago.
A Spanish-Egyptian team led by the University of Barcelona found the papyrus fragment at Oxyrhynchus in Minya Governorate, about 190 kilometres south of Cairo. The text comes from Book II of the Iliad, known as the "Catalogue of Ships," which lists Greek leaders and their vessels who sailed to Troy.
This is the first time in archaeological history that a Greek literary work has been deliberately woven into Egyptian mummification rituals. The mummy dates to around the 4th century CE, when Egypt was part of the Roman world.
The tomb also contained several other mummies wrapped in decorated linen, painted wooden coffins, and small figurines. Researchers also discovered four golden and copper tongues placed in the mouths of different bodies. This was a Greco-Egyptian practice meant to help the dead speak in the afterlife.
Previously, Greek papyri found in mummies contained magical spells and protective charms. However, the Iliad is literature, not magic. This discovery shows the fascinating cultural mix of Roman Egypt, where Greek was the language of educated people, yet Egyptian traditions of preparing the dead remained important.
Some experts believe the papyrus was deliberately offered as a symbolic gift, while others think it was simply recycled scrap material reused by embalmers.