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Discovery of ancient Odyssey manuscript fragment
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2026-09-18 05:25 UTC → 2026-09-30 06:34 UTC ·
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Researchers at Utrecht University have identified a rare 1,700-year-old parchment fragment of Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ within their archives. The discovery was made by papyrologist and specialist in ancient Greek paleography, Mark de Kreij, a researcher from Radboud University Nijmegen, while he was studying ancient manuscript collections, including early Christian documents from Greco-Roman Egypt. collections. The fragment, measuring approximately 6.6 by 7.7 centimeters (2.6 by 3 inches), centimeters, contains verses from Book XII of the epic. The text recounts epic, recounting the episode where Odysseus’s crew consumes the sacred cattle of the sun god, Helios, an act that triggers divine wrath and the destruction of their ship. Helios. Experts believe the piece originated from the Fayum oasis in Egypt and likely belonged to a small, portable ‘pocket edition’ used by students or travelers around the 3rd or 4th century AD. The New details reveal that the manuscript had been misidentified for nearly seventy years. It was part of the Schmidt Collection, which the university acquired in 1956, but it remained unnoticed due to inaccurate cataloging. The fragment features Greek writing on both sides and was preserved for centuries because it was stored among other ecclesiastical documents, protecting it from light damage. This find is considered significant as only about thirty similar specimens are known worldwide, confirming the continued popularity of Homeric epics during Late Antiquity.
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- 2026-09-30 06:34 UTC Discovery of ancient Odyssey manuscript fragment
- 2026-09-18 05:25 UTC Discovery of ancient Odyssey manuscript fragment
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