The mummy, the Iliad, and a mysterious death ritual

The mummy, the Iliad, and a mysterious death ritual

The mummy, the Iliad, and a mysterious death ritual 5 Minutes Read 1112 Words EN Archaeologists in Egypt unearthed a sealed packet of the epic poem resting atop a Roman-era mummy, suggesting they may have been used as a magical ward for the afterlife. Papyri were plentiful in the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, but researchers aren’t sure why Homer's famous poem, written on papyrus, was placed on a mummy in the Upper Necropolis area, shown above. By Taylor Mitchell Brown Published May 15, 2026 In 1798, Baron Vivant Denon, an artist accompanying Napoleon Bonaparte on his military expedition through Egypt, sketched a large sand-blown column amid remnants of an ancient city. With his drawing, he had inadvertently documented the first modern evidence of Oxyrhynchus, an important ancient Egyptian port. Later excavations would unearth tombs, mummies, curious golden tongues, and the largest cache of papyri ever discovered. But last month, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquity announ…