Experts stunned after uncovering Homer's 'Iliad' on Egyptian mummy in unprecedented find

The one-of-a-kind discovery was announced by the University of Barcelona in an April 20 news release.

Researchers from the school uncovered a fragment of Homer's "Iliad" while excavating a Roman-era tomb in the Egyptian town of Al Bahnasa.

The University of Barcelona's Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission has excavated the necropolis since 1992. The Roman-era tomb and mummy date back roughly 1,600 years.

Led by University of Barcelona professor Núria Castellano, excavators found that the papyrus was "placed on the abdomen [of the mummy] as part of the embalming ritual," the school said in a statement.

"In previous campaigns, the Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission had already documented papyri written in Greek in similar positions, but all contained magical or ritualistic content," the release noted.

The fragment comes from Book II of the "Iliad" and describes the Greek forces preparing for the Trojan War. The text was identified by papyrologist Leah Mascia.

Ignasi-Xavier Adiego, a professor at the University of Barcelona, emphasized that previously found papyri had "mainly magical" content.

"Since the late 19th century, a huge number of papyri have been discovered at Oxyrhynchus, including Greek literary texts of great importance," he said.

"But the real novelty is finding a literary papyrus in a funerary context."

But officials said the Homer fragment was the most notable - and they emphasized its rarity.

"The discovery is exceptional: It is the first time in the history of archaeology that a Greek literary text has been found deliberately incorporated into the mummification process," the school noted.

Fox News Digital reached out to Adiego and Mascia for additional comment.