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World's Oldest Joke Traced Back to 1900 BC


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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."

 

more at ABC News

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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."

 

more at ABC News

 

ROFL, two of them made me laugth, the first and the one on anglo-saxon britain keys :lol:, Thanks Viggen i wasent to surprised to hear the ancients joked though, it seems a natural thing to do as a human

 

- chris

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Got me paper, number 7 on the list is the funniest :-

 

Man is even more eager to copulate than a donkey - his purse is what restrains him.

(First written in eqyptian hieroglyphics during the Ptolemaic period of 204 BC - 30BC

 

The only roman entry is dun dun dun : -

 

8, Augustus was touring his Empire and noticed a man in the crowd who bore a striking resemblance to himself. Intrigued, he asked " Was your mother at one time in service at the palace?" "No your highness" he replied "But my father was"

(Features in Saturnalia, by Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius around 63BC)

 

- Chris

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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."

 

more at ABC News

Salve, Amici.

Herodotus of Halicarnassus reported some historical farts, like the notorious answer of the Egyptian rebel Amasis (future Ahmoses II; reigned 570-526 BC) for the ongoing Pharaoh Apries (Wahibe; regined 589-570 BC) during the XXVI Dynasty:

Here comes Histories, liber II, cp. CLXII, sec. II-III:

 

"And Amasis showed that this was not displeasing to him, for after being made king by the rebel Egyptians he prepared to march against Apries. When Apries heard of it, he sent against Amasis an esteemed Egyptian named Patarbemis, one of his own court, instructing him to take the rebel alive and bring him into his presence. When Patarbemis came and summoned Amasis, Amasis (who was on horseback) rose up and farted, telling the messenger to take that back to Apries".

 

Anyway, my favorite comic story from Herodotus was on Amasis' son, the Pharaoh Psammetichus (Psamtik III; reigned 526-525 BC) (ibid, cp. XXX, sec. I-V):

 

"From this city you make a journey by water equal in distance to that by which you came from Elephantine to the capital city of Ethiopia, and you come to the land of the Deserters. These Deserters are called Asmakh, which translates, in Greek, as

Edited by ASCLEPIADES
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  • 2 years later...

This is fantastic! I want to hear more ancient jokes!

 

An excellent excuse to bump this thread with this link.

 

I was inspired to look it up by Friday night's 'QI' which had a 'discussion' of ancient jokes (no Roman jokes, though). It was a repeat, by the way.

Edited by GhostOfClayton
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