Researchers in Egypt have made a groundbreaking discovery, uncovering fragments of Homer’s Iliad inside the abdominal cavity of a 1,600-year-old Roman-era mummy. The uncover, made during excavations in late 2025 at the ancient site of Oxyrhynchus—now the village of El-Bahnasa—marks the first time literary papyri have been found embedded within the mummification process itself.
The discovery was announced by a team from the University of Barcelona’s Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, who reported that the papyrus fragment contains a passage from Book Two of the Iliad, specifically a listing of Greek commanders who marched to Troy. Experts confirmed the text aligns with known sections of the epic poem attributed to Homer.
Ignacio Javier Adiego, the project’s lead researcher, emphasized the uniqueness of the find, noting that even as previous excavations at Oxyrhynchus have yielded Greek-language papyri, those were exclusively associated with magical or ritualistic purposes. “Finding a literary text like the Iliad intentionally placed within the mummification context is unprecedented,” Adiego said. “It represents a true first in the history of archaeology.”
The excavation, conducted between November and December 2025 in the El-Bahnasa cemetery, revealed a limestone funerary complex consisting of three chambers. Alongside the mummy, archaeologists recovered damaged wooden sarcophagi, further underscoring the site’s significance as a major Greco-Roman-era burial ground in ancient Egypt.
This discovery offers rare insight into the cultural practices of Roman-period Egypt, where Greek literary traditions persisted among elite communities. The presence of a canonical work like the Iliad in a funerary setting suggests the deceased may have been honored with texts reflecting their education, identity, or beliefs about the afterlife.
