World's oldest joke traced back to 1900 BC

[n2doc]

From Reuters
10:30 AM PDT, August 2, 2008


LONDON -- The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."


It heads the world's oldest top 10 joke list published by the University of Wolverhampton Thursday.

A 1600 BC gag about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second - "How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish."

The oldest British joke dates back to the 10th Century and reveals the bawdy face of the Anglo-Saxons - "What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before? Answer: A key."
http://www.latimes.com/features/la-on-joke3-2008aug03,0,4947192.story

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Their humor really sucked.

[IntravenousDemilo]

12. It still does.

Everything is so deadly serious to those guys. A lot of them can't even appreciate cartoons without going off half-cocked.

As usual, the only remotely funny joke mentioned came from the land that produced Monty Python.

[Demeter]

2. Obviously, Humor Standards Have Changed

and thank the goddess for that.

[TrogL]

18. You mean like dead baby jokes?

I've got a million of them.

[roamer65]

3. It is, of course, a fart joke.

I wonder how old "Pull my finger." is...

[JVS]

20. What do you think God is saying to Adam here?

[frogcycle]

23. Hey, look at the babe I've got! Too bad yours is so dinky! n/t

[TankLV]

28. Now certainly that's a DUZY!!!

[Uncle Joe]

32. Pull my finger. n/t

[carlyhippy]

33. how come God needed so many angels to get over to adam?

He's God for crying out loud, I am sure he could fly by himself. Or is this his entourage?
Who belongs to the hand under adam?...I guess I haven't really ever studied this artwork at length before. hmmm.....
Carly

[Flabbergasted]

38. Lol! nt

[XemaSab]

39. I think it's not just a fart joke, I think it's a sex joke too

You don't think the subtext is "in bed?" :shrug:

[Xipe Totec]

4. Meanwhile, the oldest American joke is running for President nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. HAHA!

:rofl:

[C_U_L8R]

16. John McCain walked into a bar with Britney and Paris...

[Xipe Totec]

21. All three required stitches nt

[frogcycle]

5. must have lost something in translation

like, maybe, the humorous parts

[ZombieHorde]

13. I was thinking the same thing, some play on words or something.

[TankLV]

29. or lost in the translation from the original...

"a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap"

(then you've never met my wife)...

take my wife...

please...

[SpiralHawk]

41. LOL

you undoubtedly had a past lifetime in Sumeria

[Demeter]

6. Maybe You Had to Be There.....

Personally, I think slapstick has had a much longer run and wider appeal, but it's ephemeral...

[ben_meyers]

8. Thank you very much, I'll be here all week,

Please try the coelacanth!

[ixion]

10. LOL

:rofl:

mmmmmmm...coelacanth. :rofl:

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. McCain told that one first.

[Submariner]

11. Richardus Pryorus and Georgiano Carlinus hadn't arrived on the

scene yet obviously.

[UTUSN]

14. They are *just* as funny as some told today. "Standards" have *not* changed.

And it's rather nice to think of people thousands of years ago yucking it up.

[calimary]

15. I was gonna say something about mcthuselah as the oldest joke in the world,

but hey - others here beat me to it.

:toast:

[mitchum]

17. I always thought it was...

"Whaaaa....am I my brother's keeper?" accompanied by a shrug and the upturned palms.
A straight line from that wisecrack to the Borsch Belt.

[JVS]

19. That joke is great!

[gort]

22. My wife asked me to kiss her where it smells....

so I put her in a chariot and drove her to Mesopotamia!

[slampoet]

24. Didn't Bob Hope still use some of these jokes.....or did he just seem old and tired?

[leftofthedial]

25. fart jokes never get old.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. Jerry Lewis is a Sumerian?

[TankLV]

27. These are really B.A.D. bad. Awful. Horrible. Groaners. Pitiful. Abismally awful...

[TankLV]

30. So, a Sumerian, Aztec & a rabbi walk into a bar...no wait...that's not it...

a goth, a neanderthal and ... no that's not it either...

Umm, grunt, oooga oooga...

[SalmonChantedEvening]

31. Take my Og. Please. n/t

[Orrex]

34. One from Egypt

Before ascending to the first throne of the Fourth Dynasty, Sneferu was chatting one day with his father Huni and mentioned his plan by which all of Egypt could become fabulously wealthy.

"The Children of the Nile will build for me the mightiest structure ever seen," said Sneferu. "And everyone who contributes will be rewarded many times over."

"I don't know," said Huni, the aging ruler of the Third Dynasty. "I don't think these pyramid schemes ever work."

[Orrex]

35. and another

Awakening in the land of the dead, the mummified body of Psusennes stretched forth his dessicated limbs and rose. He opened his eyes and beheld his faithful Sem, already awake and prostrate on the cold stone, patiently awaiting the Pharaoh's least request.

"Hail to you," intoned the humble servant. "Hail to you, O Breath of Life, Giver of Plenty, Most Just, Most Merciful Lord. Hail to you, Bringer of the Dawn, Vanquisher of Enemies, and Protector of All. Hail to you, Once-Dead God, The Most Great, The Wise. How may I serve you, Lord? Pray let me bring you food and drink, for you must hunger after your long journey."

"No, thanks," said the mummy. "I'm stuffed."

[Orrex]

36. and another

The huge pyramid was nearing completion when the master architect realized that they wouldn't have enough stone to finish it. Horrified at his lack of foresight, he conveyed the news to the Pharaoh.

"The answer is simple," the God-King declared. "Kill one hundred of my slaves, grind their bodies to powder, and mix their remains with the sacred oils. Apply this preparation to the crest of my pyramid, and when it dries under the burning Gaze of Ra, no one will be able to tell it from the true stone."

"Forgive me, sire," the architect said gently. "But I don't know that the slaves will appreciate this treatment."

"What?" boomed the wise and mighty Pharaoh. "Why should they object to serving my will?"

The architect swallowed before speaking. "Well, no one likes being taken for granite."

[Orrex]

37. And another!

Sneaking back from the necropolis late one night, the master embalmer stumbled upon one of the palace guards, who demanded to know what he was doing so late at night.

"Against our departed pharaoh's express wishes, I cut open his corpse," the embalmer admitted. "I removed his organs, dessicated the body, packed it with herbs, and then wrapped it in many yards of linen. Please," he begged, "you mustn't reveal that I've done this."

"I won't tell a soul," the guard said approvingly. "Mummy's the word."

[Random_Australian]

42. Hah! Those are great. Thanks for sharing! n/t

[BreweryYardRat]

40. The second one's mildly amusing.

The other two don't work well in translation.

[Stuart G]

43. Stephanie Miller likes fart jokes. nt