Why were papyrus copies of the ancient Greek epic poem 'The Iliad' found stuffed inside Egyptian mummies?
by Jacques-Louis David
In April 2026, a fragment of
Egyptian mummy has part of the 'Iliad' in its abdomen, archaeologists discover | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/egyptian-mummy-has-part-of-the-iliad-in-its-abdomen-archaeologists-discover
Why was an Egyptian mummy stuffed with a fragment of Homer's Iliad?
https://theconversation.com/why-was-an-egyptian-mummy-stuffed-with-a-fragment-of-homers-iliad-282190
Oxyrhynchus, located south-southwest of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, flourished as an important Egyptian city, and it is said that approximately 500,000 papyrus fragments were found there between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The papyrus containing the Iliad that was recently discovered was found in the abdomen of a mummy made about 1,600 years ago, when Egypt was a province of the Roman Empire. Blum and his colleagues point out that in order to understand why the papyrus containing the Iliad was found in the abdomen of a mummy, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the Iliad.
The Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem attributed to the poet Homer , who lived at the end of the 8th century BC. It is based on the Trojan War , as described in Greek mythology. The Trojan War was a conflict between Troy (Ilion) in Asia Minor and an expeditionary force of the Achaeans, and the Iliad ends with Troy's defeat.
However, later Roman tradition tells of a man named Aeneas who escaped from the fallen city of Troy with his parents and children, crossed the Mediterranean Sea, and reached Italy, becoming the ancestor of the Romans. The continuation of this story was written several centuries after the Iliad, and the most famous version is the ' Aeneid ' by the ancient Roman poet Virgil .
by Pompeo Batoni
The Aeneid's story of Aeneas, the hero who escaped Troy and, after a long wandering, arrived in Italy and became the ancestor of the Romans, completely changed the meaning of the Trojan War. Blum et al. state, 'In other words, the past was actively reorganized through narratives that could be reconstructed, expanded, and connected across time and space.'
For the Romans, the Iliad and Aeneid became a means of contemplating their origins, identity, and power. Claiming to be descendants of Troy meant more than simply tracing their lineage, and the Romans continued to recite these epics.
Educated elites throughout the Roman Empire studied the Iliad and its author, Homer, as part of their schooling. As a result, Roman senators, teachers in Asia Minor, and students in Egypt could all talk about the Iliad, quote its poems in speeches, and discuss its contents. Blum et al. state, 'This poem (the Iliad) created a common frame of reference, allowing people from vastly different backgrounds to place themselves within a shared past.'
Furthermore, the ruins of Troy in modern-day Turkey became a popular tourist destination during the Roman Empire. The ruins of Troy are divided into several layers, with the newest layer,
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by CherryX
Thus, throughout the Roman Empire, the Iliad circulated as a living text, copies were made, and it was used as teaching material. This was also true of Egypt, which was a Roman province at the time, where it was deeply rooted as literature in daily life. According to Blum et al., the Iliad was widely known among the Greek-speaking elite, especially in urban areas like Oxyrhynchus, where mummies were found.
Reports on the discovery of a papyrus containing the Iliad in a mummy from the Roman province era suggested that the papyrus might reflect the deceased's education and cultural identity.
However, Blum et al. point out that 'the most compelling explanation may be the simplest: discarded or damaged papyrus can be reused as an inexpensive material. Therefore, these fragments may have served as stuffing for the mummy. In other words, they were bundled together and inserted into the body's orifices without any particular attention being paid to their literary content.'
The fact that fragments of the Iliad were used as disposable stuffing demonstrates how deeply the Iliad permeated daily life in Egypt. Blum et al. stated, 'The Iliad played a role in creating a world in which different pasts could be pieced together, compared, and reconstructed. By linking stories, places, and traditions across the Mediterranean, the Roman world transformed the past into a flexible resource. This created a sense of identity, authority, and belonging in a constantly changing context.'
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