Overview
- Archaeologists with the University of Barcelona’s Oxyrhynchus mission found a Greek papyrus inside a Roman‑era mummy from Tomb 65 in Al‑Bahnasa, about 190 kilometers south of Cairo.
- In January and February 2026, conservator Margalida Munar, papyrologist Leah Mascia, and linguist Ignasi‑Xavier Adiego identified the passage as the “Catalogue of Ships” from Book II of Homer’s Iliad.
- The team says the papyrus was placed on the abdomen during embalming to protect the person in the afterlife, a practice seen at the site with other papyri.
- Researchers report this as the first recorded case of a Greek literary text used in mummification, since prior papyri in similar contexts at Oxyrhynchus held magical or ritual content.
- Further work is underway to study the preliminarily identified adult male and to trace how books were reused as packing materials as Egyptian, Greek, and Roman burial customs blended in late antiquity.