巴塞罗那大学主导的考古队在埃及奥克西林库斯遗址发现了一具罗马时代木乃伊，其腹部放置着一张记载荷马《伊利亚特》内容的纸莎草纸。[1]这是有史以来第一次发现希腊文学文本被有意纳入木乃伊化过程中的考古证据。[1]
这具木乃伊距今约1600年，出土于位于开罗南约190公里处的Al Bahnasa遗址。[1]纸莎草纸上记载的是《伊利亚特》第二卷的《船队目录》。[1]挖掘工作于2025年11月至12月期间进行，并在2026年1月和2月进行了进一步研究。[1]
由巴塞罗那大学古近东研究所的Maite Mascort和Esther Pons主导的考古队发现了这项重要成果。[1]专家Ignasi-Xavier Adiego教授指出："这是第一次在葬礼环境中发现文学纸莎草纸。"[1]该考古项目始于1992年，由Josep Padró教授领导，已成为西班牙在埃及历时最久的考古项目之一。[1]
An archaeological team led by the Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Barcelona has uncovered a remarkable artifact in Egypt: a papyrus scroll containing passages from Homer's Iliad that was deliberately placed inside a Roman-era mummy dating back approximately 1,600 years.[1] The discovery was made during excavations conducted between November and December 2025 at Al Bahnasa, the site of the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus, located roughly 190 kilometers south of Cairo.[1]
The papyrus, which contains the famous "Catalogue of Ships" from Book II of the Iliad, represents the first documented archaeological evidence of a Greek literary text being intentionally incorporated into the mummification process.[1] According to Ignasi-Xavier Adiego, a specialist who examined the find, this marks "the first time a literary papyrus has been discovered in a funerary context."[1] The mummy was found in tomb 65 within the 22nd sector of the Oxyrhynchus site.[1] The excavation team, led by Maite Mascort and Esther Pons, conducted further research and analysis in January and February 2026.[1]
The Oxyrhynchus archaeological project, which has been underway since 1992 under the initial direction of Josep Padró, has become one of Spain's longest-running excavation initiatives in Egypt.[1]