You can tell it’s a slow time of year around here — yesterday my neighbor and myself got tired of politics and sports and we got to wondering what the world’s oldest joke was. Well, time for some extensive research on my part.
No one really know what the oldest joke that was ever told was, but there seems to be total agreement as to what the oldest example of recorded humor was and it dates back to at least 1900 BC. Here’s the joke — “Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap.” The “joke” is a Sumerian proverb that warns new husbands about their flatulent brides. The joke was found on tablets from the Old Babylonian period — some believe they may date back as far as 2300 BC.
The joke’s humorous observation was likely an example of playful and relatable humor of the time, reflecting human nature and everyday lives in ancient civilizations.
I was so pleased with my successful search, I thought I’d see if I could find the world’s second oldest joke. And — once again, success. The world’s second oldest joke likely appeared in the Ancient Egyptian story book known as the Westcar Papyrus — written some time between 1800-1600 BC.
“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.”
I’m not sure how these jokes have weathered the test of time — you probably won’t hear them in any of the comedy clubs or late night television today, but I bet if you were living back then you’d have thought they were pretty funny.
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