Archaeologists Find Egyptian Mummy Buried With the ‘Iliad’
The New York Times • • world
Key Points:
- Archaeologists in Egypt discovered a 2,000-year-old mummy with a papyrus fragment of Homer's "Iliad" sealed in a clay packet outside its wrappings, marking the first time a literary work was found serving a spiritual role in mummification.
- The papyrus contains lines from Book 2’s “Catalogue of Ships,” suggesting that the “Iliad” functioned similarly to a magical spell for navigating the afterlife in Roman-era Egypt.
- The find was made at Oxyrhynchus by the University of Barcelona's mission, with experts from multiple institutions collaborating to stabilize and decipher the heavily degraded text over several years.
- This discovery highlights a cultural fusion in Roman Egypt where Greek literary texts were repurposed for ritualistic and magical uses, indicating the significance of Homeric epics beyond mere reading.