# Archaeologists Find a Fragment of Homer's Iliad Tucked Inside a 1,600-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy

*2026-07-17 22:01 UTC · Science · 2 min read*

> A 1,600-year-old Egyptian mummy was found wrapped with a papyrus fragment of Homer's Iliad — the first known case of a Greek literary text used in mummification.

Researchers with the University of Barcelona's Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission have discovered a papyrus fragment of Homer's Iliad deliberately placed inside the wrappings of a Roman-era mummy in Egypt. The find, made in Tomb 65 of Sector 22 at the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus (modern Al Bahnasa, about 190 km south of Cairo) during excavations in November and December 2025, marks the first known case of a Greek literary text being intentionally used in a funerary ritual, rather than a magical or religious document.

The papyrus, resting on the mummy's abdomen as part of the embalming process, preserves a passage from Book II of the Iliad known as the "Catalogue of Ships," which lists the Greek forces sailing to Troy, including warriors such as Guneus with 22 ships from Cyphus and Tlepolemus with nine ships from Rhodes. Philologist Ignasi-Xavier Adiego, who led the analysis with papyrologist Leah Mascia, said Greek papyri had been found bundled into mummifications before, but their content was almost always magical rather than literary.

The Oxyrhynchus mission, running since 1992, also uncovered other mummies in the same tomb featuring gold leaf, geometric decoration, and golden and copper tongues believed to have helped the dead communicate with the god Osiris in the afterlife.

## Sources

- [smithsonianmag.com](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-a-papyrus-fragment-from-the-iliad-tucked-inside-the-wrappings-of-a-1600-year-old-egyptian-mummy-180988603/)
- [sciencedaily.com](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260713084918.htm)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/2024-archaeologists-find-a-fragment-of-homer-s-iliad-tucked-inside-a-1-600-year-old
Česká verze: https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/2097-archeologove-nasli-fragment-homerovy-iliady-ukryty-v-1600-let-stare-egyptske