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Archaeologists Find Egyptian Mummy Buried With the ‘Iliad’
Researchers say 20 sealed papyrus packets were found over the mummy, and one contained verses from Homer’s Iliad.
- Last month, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquity announced that the Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission uncovered a sealed papyrus packet atop a Roman-era mummy in the High Necropolis, containing fragments of Homer's Iliad.
- Located about 118 miles south of Cairo in El-Bahnasa, the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus burgeoned after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BCE, becoming a major hub for Greek settlers and papyri preservation.
- Philologist Ignasi Adiego at the University of Barcelona identified the text as the "Catalogue of Ships," noting the packet was sealed with clay embalmer seals typically reserved for safeguarding official documents.
- Researchers suspect the sealed papyrus represents a "protective ritual practice" that offered something to the dead, challenging initial theories that the fragment was merely discarded scrap used as mummy filler.
- Philologist Serena Perrone at the University of Genoa says the finding opens a new context for Homeric poetry in Greco-Roman Egypt, where the Iliad served as a foundational marker of education.
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It is 2000 years old and the specialists found it with remains of the papyrus; for the deceased of Egypt of the Roman era, Greek literature may have offered a key to a life in the afterlife
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Hawaii Tribune-HeraldReposted by 
The Post and Courier
The Post and CourierArchaeologists find Egyptian mummy buried with the ‘Iliad’
Archaeologists working in Egypt have discovered a remarkable combination of Homeric epic and Egyptian ritual: a 2,000-year-old mummy with a papyrus fragment of the “Iliad” sealed in a clay packet outside its wrappings. The post Archaeologists find Egyptian mummy buried with the ‘Iliad’ appeared first on Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
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Leaning Left2Leaning Right2Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
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L 25%
C 50%
R 25%
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