What is the earliest documented instance of humour?

by ophelier
irishGOP413

The University of Wolverhampton published a list of the world's oldest jokes, and the oldest one they listed was a Sumerian fart joke. This joke was dated to about 1900 BC. The joke is #15-16 at the electronic compilation of Sumerian literature hosted by the University of Oxford (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/proverbs/t.6.1.01.html) and you can read a BBC News story about it here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7536918.stm.

The joke is: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap." I suppose we've lost a little something in translation.

Mens_provida_Reguli

The Iliad has some humorous scenes, so this is a good place to start.

Hephaistos in Book 1

Thersites in Book 2

Hera tricks Zeus in book 14

And the Odyssey, though this is said to be later than the Iliad.

Hephaistos, Aphrodite, and Ares in book 8

Searocksandtrees

hi! fyi, you'll find more on the oldest joke, and lots of other examples from the ancient world in the FAQ