A damaged parchment fragment containing part of Homer`s Odyssey has been discovered in a university library in the Netherlands after being overlooked for decades.

Professor Mark de Kreij identified it while studying Greek manuscripts at Utrecht University. The fragment contains passages from Book 12 and is believed to date to the third or fourth century AD.

Only about 30 similar fragments are known worldwide. Researchers believe it was once owned by a reader in Egypt`s Fayum Oasis.

Experts are unsure whether it came from a complete copy of the Odyssey or an anthology of excerpts. The discovery also shows how widely Homer`s works were read and used to teach Greek in the ancient world. •