“Humor is just another defense against the universe,” quipped the great Mel Brooks, and the great comedian’s sentiments extend far back in recorded history. I like thinking about how long humans have been teasing, cracking jokes, and finding play with the absurd. The general scholarly consensus is that the oldest written joke goes back to 1900 BCE from Sumeria, and it’s an ironic setup:.
“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial . . . . A young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap”.
The first extant book of humor, _Philogelos: the Laugh Addict_, comes from the 4th century C.E. and has 265 jokes. It was written by two otherwise unknown authors named Hierocles and Philagrius, and one of the liners is about a king (I chose a random ancient sculpture of Philip II of Macedon to represent because of his facial expression):.
“Asked by the court barber how he wanted his hair cut, the king replied: “In silence”.”
Source(s): @insider.com, “These are the 10 oldest jokes in human history,” Bill Bostock, Aug 17, 2019. @mentalfloss.com, “15 jokes from the world’s oldest jokebook,” Erik van Rheenen, Aug 3, 2019. @news.bbc.co.uk, “Dead parrot sketch ancestor found,” 13 Nov 2008.
