A Spanish archaeological mission from the University of Barcelona and the Institute of the Ancient Near East, led by Dr. Maite Mascourt and Dr. Esther Ponce Melado, has unearthed a Roman-era tomb in the Bahnasa (Minya Governorate) during excavations at the site.

The excavations revealed several Roman-era mummies, some wrapped in bandages decorated with geometric patterns, along with wooden coffins. Within the burials archaeologists also found tree golden tongues, and one copper tongue, which reflect the Roman-era Egyptian custom of accessorizing the dead with foil implements in the form of human tongues, as these would enable the deceased to speak with the gods in the afterlife. Evidence of gold leaf was also found on some of the mummified bodies.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, expressed his delight at the discovery, emphasizing that it adds to the series of important archaeological finds recently witnessed in Minya Governorate and reflects the richness and diversity of Egyptian civilization throughout the ages. For his part, Dr. Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that this discovery offers new insights into funerary practices in the city of Bahnasa during the Greek and Roman periods. He also noted the discovery of a rare papyrus inside one of the mummies.

The papyrus contained a text from the second book of Homer’s Iliad, which includes a description of the participants in the Greek campaign against Troy, known as the “Catalogue of Ships”, neōn katálogos. He pointed out that this discovery adds an important literary and historical dimension to the site.

Professor Mohamed Abdel-Badie, Head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, added that excavations east of Ptolemaic Tomb No. 67, discovered during the 2024 season, resulted in the opening of a trench containing three limestone chambers, of which only limited fragments remain. He explained that in the first chamber, a stone slab and a large jar containing the cremated remains of an adult were found, along with the bones of an infant and the head of a cat, all wrapped in pieces of cloth. The second chamber contained a similar jar holding the cremated remains of two individuals, as well as bones from the same animal family. Small terracotta and bronze statues were also found south of the site, including statues representing the god Harpocrates in the form of a horseman, and a small statue of Cupid.

Dr. Hassan Amer, Professor of Archaeology at the Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, and Director of the excavation, noted that the excavations in tomb number (65) resulted in the discovery of gold and copper tongues, along with a number of Roman mummies, as well as painted wooden coffins inside an underground burial chamber (hypogeum). However, these coffins were in a state of deterioration due to looting in antiquity.