“That’s why the fragment of the Iliad was in a mummy in Egypt,” the expert explained

The discovery, made by a Spanish archaeological mission in Oxyrhynchus, in the governorate of Minya, brought to light a Roman tomb with numerous mummies and precious objects, including a papyrus containing a passage from the second book of the Iliad, the so-called ‘Catalogue of Ships’ (II, 494-759), which lists the Greek contingents headed to Troy. A finding that initially could suggest a symbolic or religious meaning linked to the cult of the dead, but which instead has a completely different explanation.

“Contrary to what is supposed, this fragment did not indicate the idea of ​​taking a part of the Iliad with you on your funeral journey, it is rather a question of a papyrus used as material to fill the abdomen and prevent sagging of the skin and tissues after removal of the bowels, a little as if we had used old newspaper sheets“, explains Miniaci. The papyrus, therefore, did not have a symbolic or religious function, but rather a practical one, to stabilize the body of the deceased in the embalming process. “The discovery of the papyrus – Miniaci underlines – occurred in an area of extraordinary archaeological importance: the necropolis of Ossirinco is in fact located near the site of Zawyet Sultan, where the University of Pisa has been engaged for over ten years in excavation campaigns which have already brought to light funerary structures of great interest, including a small unfinished pyramid that we are studying to understand its use and functions”.