May 20, 2026
Wrath of Mom? Try Tomb of Homer
Archaeologists find Egyptian mummy buried with the 'Iliad'
Ancient book-in-a-tomb find sparks nerdy hype, history nitpicks, and grave jokes
TLDR: Archaeologists found a mummy in Egypt buried with pages from Homer’s *Iliad*, suggesting the poem may have been a status symbol or even an afterlife aid. Commenters were split between being impressed and nitpicking that the tomb is from Roman-ruled Egypt, while others cracked jokes about burial reading lists and Nolan’s movie hopes.
An Egyptian mummy buried with pages from Homer’s Iliad sounds like instant blockbuster material, and the internet absolutely treated it that way. The basic wow-factor is real: archaeologists found a 1,600-year-old tomb in Al Bahnasa, Egypt, containing a fragment from Book 2 of the Iliad — yes, the famous ancient Greek war poem. Researchers think the text may have acted like a kind of cultural status symbol, or even a spiritual passport to help the dead in the afterlife. That alone had commenters imagining the most elite burial accessory of late antiquity.
But the comments quickly turned from awe to “well, actually” mode. One of the strongest reactions was disappointment that the tomb comes from Roman-era Egypt, when Greece and Rome had already heavily shaped Egyptian society. In other words: cool find, but some history buffs were craving an even older, purer Egypt-meets-Greece crossover episode. Others chimed in with museum trivia, linking the Liber Linteus, an Etruscan text reused to wrap a mummy, proving that ancient recycling and weird manuscript afterlives never go out of style.
And then came the jokes. One dry comment torched the article’s Hollywood flourish about Christopher Nolan maybe saving cinema with the Odyssey by replying simply: “If.” Another person deadpanned that the Catalog of Ships is “certainly the section I want to be buried with,” which is exactly the kind of niche ancient-world humor the internet lives for. Even a “dupe” callout showed up, because no online archaeology thread is complete without someone reminding everyone this drama was already excavated 28 days ago.
Key Points
- •Archaeologists found a fragment of Homer’s *Iliad* packaged with a mummy in a 1,600-year-old Roman-era tomb in Al Bahnasa, Egypt.
- •The fragment contains lines from Book 2 of the *Iliad*, specifically the “catalogue of ships” describing the Achaean fleet sent to Troy.
- •The article says this is a rare instance of a Greek literary work, rather than a more general Hellenic text, being found with a mummy.
- •It cites reporting that Greek literary papyri in late ancient Egypt may have served as a cultural marker of Hellenic identity and elite status.
- •The article also says Homer’s work was credited with curative properties in ancient Egypt, including use of *Iliad* passages in treating fever.