# What IS the oldest joke in the book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420 "2003-02-16T08:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/21 "2003-02-16T22:53:46Z")
The newest jokes these days are **French Jokes**! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/22 "2003-02-16T23:33:41Z")
One can make a case that the oldest joke we have any sort of record of is the “As I was going to St. Ives” joke. There is indirect evidence that it was known in ancient Egypt. One of the Egyptian mAthematical papyri shows the addition of seven men, each with seven wives, each with seven pets, etc. It’s either a remarkable coincidence, or else it shows the remarkable longevity of the joke/riddle. Predates any possible joke in the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/23 "2003-02-18T20:03:25Z")
Although he lived considerably after the early days of ancient Egypt and Babylon, Timon of Athens, a famous misanthrope, may also be of interest. Plutarch recorded that Timon said he was so broke that the only hot meal he could afford was a bowl of steam. Woody Allen used a variation on this in Take the Money and Run. Timon once spoke before the senate in Athens and announced he was about to chop down a tree on his property, so if anyone wanted to hang himself they had better hurry. Timon’s epitaph translated as something like this: “Go and revile me. But anyway, just go…” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/24 "2003-02-18T20:58:32Z")
“Adam caught Eve by the furbelow, and that’s the oldest catch I know.” Trinopus ---
**Author:** ![MrTuffPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MrTuffPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrTuffPaws)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/25 "2003-02-19T00:13:46Z")
:Og wag mug ooo ooo? :gaa? :blogzog ug ug ug!!! :HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ---
**Author:** ![man779977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@man779977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/man779977)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/26 "2003-02-19T00:55:56Z")
we wouldnt recognize the oldest joke in the book as a joke because we probably wouldnt think it was funny, so its impossbile to find one ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/27 "2003-02-19T01:27:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slipster \* > In Here at the New Yorker, James Thurber told about an anecdote which was printed in the Talk of the Town feature. > … > > Readers wrote in to the magazine to point out that, aside from the part about the train, this story was taken from the writings of Homer. Given that **I** recognised this story as the end of the _Odyssey_, I’d suspect that Thurber did too. As for New Yorkers, they’ve presumably got smarter. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/28 "2003-02-19T02:02:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slipster \* > \*\*… “Go and revile me. But anyway, just go…” \*\* Was it Groucho Marx who said “Don’t go away mad, just go away”? ---
**Author:** ![zwaldd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@zwaldd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwaldd)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/29 "2003-02-19T04:11:01Z")
How many singularities does it take to make a universe. This singularity is so small… (How small is it?!?) Who said that? ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/30 "2003-02-19T04:58:16Z")
The oldest joke is: Hey baby I got something for ya! ---
**Author:** ![jeff\_lebowski\_s\_brother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jeff\_lebowski\_s\_brother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeff_lebowski_s_brother)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420/31 "2003-02-19T08:51:08Z")
A Summarian, a Babylonian, and a Hittite walk into a bar… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-joke-in-the-book/155420.md?page=1)