Egyptian mummy buried with fragment of Homer's Iliad
Archaeologists excavating Oxyrhynchus in Egypt uncovered a Roman-era mummy buried with a 2,000-year-old papyrus fragment of Homer’s Iliad sealed in a clay packet outside the linen wrappings. Researchers interpret the packet’s placement outside the bandages as a deliberate funerary use of the text, functioning like a literary passport for the deceased. Oxyrhynchus already yields vast papyrus material, and this burial supplies rare direct evidence that Homeric epic accompanied individuals in Roman Egypt funerary practice. The discovery reveals Greek literature’s practical role in ritual life and highlights cultural and linguistic blending in Roman-era Egyptian society.
I was somewhat taken aback by the ritualistic interpretations of that find of a fragment of the Iliad on a piece of papyrus packed up with a mummy. More mundane explanations are always likely to be closer to the truth, and to me, it sounded like someone had just grabbed a scrap of paper to use. 1/4
Alice Roberts58This article in the wonderful @theconversation.com offers that more mundane explanation too. But that in itself is interesting - it shows just how ubiquitous the Iliad was in Roman provinces. 2/4 theconversation.com/why-was-an-e...
Rob Jacobs14Well I knew someone who got buried with a copy of the Lord of the Rings so maybe in a 1000 years someone will dig it up and draw all sorts of inaccurate conclusions.
Wear ≥Filip Filipovich Preobrazhensky 2 respirator Do Not Follow7Thank you for the cogent & precise explanation, greatly appreciated.
