A scientific study at Istanbul University has examined a 260-folio manuscript of Homer’s Iliad, preserved in the library of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II at Topkapı Palace, uncovering previously undocumented features, including evidence suggesting the work may have been copied in a manuscript workshop based in Istanbul.
The manuscript, attributed to Patriarch Gennadius II and dating to the 12th or 13th century, is preserved in the collection of Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the Conqueror, at Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.
Hamdi Şahin, head of the Department of Ancient History at Istanbul University's Faculty of Literature, conducted the scientific examination after obtaining the necessary permissions.
The manuscript consists of 260 folios measuring 26.2 by 19.8 centimeters, bound in leather-covered wooden boards. Records inside the front cover provide clues about the manuscript's history.
A Greek ownership inscription suggests that the manuscript once belonged to the personal collection of Patriarch Gennadius II. French and Ottoman Turkish labels in the same section identify it as a 13th-century copy of Homer's Iliad. The lower-left corner of the label also bears the seal and inventory numbers of the Topkapı Palace Registration Commission.
Researchers also uncovered significant findings concerning the manuscript's possible place of production.
Its page layout, writing quality, biographical material about Homer and extensive commentaries suggest that it may have been copied in a manuscript workshop based in Istanbul, according to the study.
The research examined the manuscript's paleographic and codicological features, identifying new details about its place in Middle Byzantine manuscript culture, production techniques and textual content.
The main text is written in large, clear and regularly formed capital letters, while extensive commentaries appear in smaller, more densely written script in the wide margins surrounding it.
Researchers found that headings, enlarged initials and reference marks directing readers to marginal notes were written in red ink, suggesting a systematic production process. The use of letter combinations, abbreviations and decorative word endings also points to the scribe's advanced writing skills.
The fifth folio contains an account of Homer's life, including information about his family tree, parents and birthplace, followed by a summary of the first book of the Iliad.
The epic itself begins on the seventh folio. The main text is positioned in the center of the page, with explanations and commentaries placed in the surrounding margins and a separate column on the right.
The manuscript also stands out for its visual design and decorative elements, researchers said.
These include red-ink knot and interlacing patterns, horizontal decorative bands spanning the width of pages, and headings and enlarged initials adorned with floral motifs. The decorations appear to have been used to separate sections, help readers follow transitions in the text and establish a clear page layout.
Some margins also contain triangles, geometric diagrams and explanatory notes in Greek. Researchers said the drawings served as visual aids to explain concepts in the text and illustrate connections between groups of commentaries.
The difference in lettering between the main text and marginal notes creates a visual hierarchy, with the main text written in larger, more open and rounded characters and the commentaries in smaller, more compact script.
The manuscript is generally well-preserved, although damage was identified along the right and left edges of the front of the fifth folio and the reverse of the seventh. Researchers plan to reconstruct the missing sections by comparing them with other manuscript copies.
Another significant finding concerns the manuscript's relationship with other surviving copies of the Iliad.
The research team believes the Istanbul manuscript may be an intermediary copy linked to the 10th- and 11th-century Venetus A and Townleyanus manuscripts. Those manuscripts were taken from Istanbul by Patriarch Bessarion in the 15th century and donated to the Marciana Library, also known as Biblioteca Marciana, in Venice.
Differences in the spelling of certain words compared with other copies may reflect linguistic changes that occurred during the transmission of ancient texts, the researchers said.
Philological analysis also found that the commentaries in the Istanbul manuscript were not derived from a single manuscript source.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Şahin said the research began in February 2026 while he was preparing an academic article about Homer.
He said he noticed what appeared to be a misspelled word in Homer's work, prompting him to investigate further.
Şahin first compared the passage with existing modern editions but found no explanation for the discrepancy. He then decided to examine the surviving manuscripts themselves.
The manuscript is divided into two main sections, he said. The first contains approximately five pages on Homer's life and ancestry, followed by summaries of the books of the Iliad. The epic itself begins after these introductory sections.
The margins on the sides, top and bottom of the pages contain extensive commentaries, Şahin said, explaining that they interpret Homer's verses, clarify individual words, function almost like a dictionary and provide background on mythological events.
The manuscript comprises 260 folios and is complete, he said.
"It has wooden boards covered in leather, and each folio is made of paper. We have the entire work. In other words, we have a complete surviving copy of Homer's Iliad," Şahin said.
Earlier manuscripts of the Iliad, dating to the 11th and 12th centuries, are already known to scholars, he said. The Istanbul copy, which researchers date to the 12th or 13th century, may have served as a model for manuscripts produced in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.
The number of lines from the epic varies between 14 and 30 on each folio, Şahin said, noting that the verses are distributed unevenly across the pages.
While one folio may contain 15 lines, another can have as many as 30. The epic begins on the seventh folio and continues through the final line of its last book, making the manuscript a complete copy, he added.
Sections separating the books of the Iliad are marked with red-ink bands, while interlocking concentric circles serve the same purpose in some places, Şahin said.
He described the research as significant for the academic community, emphasizing the importance of the manuscript having been part of Mehmed II's personal library and remaining preserved in Istanbul.
Calling it a unique work with no known equivalent elsewhere in the world, Şahin said the Istanbul manuscript could help bridge the gap between early copies and those produced in the 14th and 15th centuries.
"Our manuscript, which we have named the Istanbul manuscript, fits precisely between the early copies and those from the 14th and 15th centuries. We therefore believe it may have served as a model for copies produced afterward. This work has never been studied before. We are sharing it with the public for the first time," he said.
