What is the oldest known pun?

by TheFairyGuineaPig

I know about the oldest joke but what's the oldest pun? How would we know it was a pun if we don't have all the vocabulary, anyway?

sartres-shart

The book of Kells written from the 6th through the early 9th century is said to contain puns. However I've been unsuccessful in googling them. All I can find is a reference to the puns in this history website. http://irelandroadways.blogspot.ie/2013/02/from-book-of-kells-to-synod-of-kells.html

This is a link to a site where you can view the book itself. http://www.tcd.ie/Library/bookofkells/book-of-kells/

jeffbell

There are puns and wordplay present in the Hebrew biblical texts that are often lost in translation. For example in Genesis chapter 3 the word for "cunning" (to describe the serpent) and "naked" (to describe the humans) are very similar words, `arum and `arumim.