This sounds insane, but it’s true:
The world’s oldest recorded joke is a 4,000-year-old fart gag.
Humans have been cracking up at the same stuff since Mesopotamia.
🧵 History’s first LOLs: 5 ancient jokes that still land.
The world’s oldest recorded joke is a 4,000-year-old fart gag.
Humans have been cracking up at the same stuff since Mesopotamia.
🧵 History’s first LOLs: 5 ancient jokes that still land.
Humor is an age-old survival tool. It allowed people to tease kings, mock love, and handle misery before memes.
1) Sumer, 1900 BCE — The first fart joke:
“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap.”
1) Sumer, 1900 BCE — The first fart joke:
“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap.”
4,000 years later the setup still works:
Expectations of decorum … smashed by bodily reality.
2) Sumer, c. 1700 BCE — The first ‘walks into a bar’ joke
“A dog walks into a bar and says, ‘I cannot see a thing. I’ll open this one.’”
Expectations of decorum … smashed by bodily reality.
2) Sumer, c. 1700 BCE — The first ‘walks into a bar’ joke
“A dog walks into a bar and says, ‘I cannot see a thing. I’ll open this one.’”
Scholars admit they have no idea why it’s funny.
Proof that “random humor” predates TikTok by four millennia.
3) England, 10th century — First joke in English
“What hangs at a man’s thigh and wants to poke the hole it’s often poked before?”
Punchline: “A key.”
Proof that “random humor” predates TikTok by four millennia.
3) England, 10th century — First joke in English
“What hangs at a man’s thigh and wants to poke the hole it’s often poked before?”
Punchline: “A key.”
Innuendo, misdirection, and dad-level pun — the holy trinity of comedy.
4) Greece, 4th century CE — World’s oldest joke book
Philogelos ( “Laughter-Lover” ) collected 265 quips. One gem:
Barber: “How do you want your hair cut?”
Wit: “In silence.”
4) Greece, 4th century CE — World’s oldest joke book
Philogelos ( “Laughter-Lover” ) collected 265 quips. One gem:
Barber: “How do you want your hair cut?”
Wit: “In silence.”
Sarcasm so timeless you could tweet it today and go viral.
5) Egypt, 30 BCE — Love & money
“Man is more eager to copulate than a donkey — it’s his purse that restrains him.”
Translation: Dating has always been expensive.
What do these relics show?
5) Egypt, 30 BCE — Love & money
“Man is more eager to copulate than a donkey — it’s his purse that restrains him.”
Translation: Dating has always been expensive.
What do these relics show?
• Bathroom humor never dies.
• Puns are universal.
• Jokes age better than empires.
Across 40 centuries, laughter is the one dialect every culture speaks.
Next time you giggle at a bad pun, remember you’re sharing a punchline with Sumerian scribes.
• Puns are universal.
• Jokes age better than empires.
Across 40 centuries, laughter is the one dialect every culture speaks.
Next time you giggle at a bad pun, remember you’re sharing a punchline with Sumerian scribes.
Follow @hunleyeric for more hidden gems that make history fun.
RT the first post so your friends know fart jokes are literally as old as civilization.
Check out the source article historyfacts.com/arts-culture/a…
RT the first post so your friends know fart jokes are literally as old as civilization.
Check out the source article historyfacts.com/arts-culture/a…
Humor outlives empires.
If these ancient punchlines made you grin, smash that RT on tweet 1 and follow @hunleyeric for more hidden-history gems that prove the past is anything but boring.
Let’s keep the 4,000-year laugh track rolling.
If these ancient punchlines made you grin, smash that RT on tweet 1 and follow @hunleyeric for more hidden-history gems that prove the past is anything but boring.
Let’s keep the 4,000-year laugh track rolling.
https://twitter.com/179932411/status/1930686071895179493
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