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Ancient tablet may contain world’s oldest ‘Yo Mama’ joke, along with sex and beer humor
The tablet was found in 1976 in modern-day Iraq, and may have been the work of a sloppy student from 1,500 B.C.
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BY ROLANDO PUJOL / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 12:19 AM
OK, they aren't exactly knee-slappers, but 3,500 years ago, the six riddles found on an ancient tablet in Iraq could well have been quite the howlers — and may even contain the oldest "Yo Mama" joke known to man.
The cuneiform chucklers, believed to be written by a Babylonian student circa 1,500 B.C., were carved on a damaged tablet, discovered in 1976 by an archaeologist, J.J. van Dijk. The tablet has since vanished, but van Dijk preserved what was written on it. Michael Streck and Nathan Wasserman studied the riddles and published their findings in the noted journal Iraq, published by the British Institute for the Study of Iraq.
The riddles' subject matter is earthy - sex, beer, and, of course, humor at the expense of mom.
The riddle that has most captured the imagination is cryptic, but unquestionably involves something sassy being said about somebody's mother:
“...of your mother is by the one who has intercourse with her. What/who is it?
[No answer]”
OK, yes, not funny. Some of the words have clearly been lost. The authors label it as "solution undeciphered," but some see (hopefully) an ancient stab at humor.
Some of the other riddles are a little clearer, if not terribly funny.
To wit:
“The deflowered girl did not become pregnant. The undeflowered girl became pregnant. What is it?
[Answer] Auxiliary forces.”
Just what were they trying to say here? IO9, a pop-culture blog, calls it conceptual, perhaps the work of an ancient "Andy Kaufman." Huffington Post calls it "surrealist." A commenter on the Discoblog sketches a somewhat plausible scenario: "auxiliary forces" is clearly "somebody else has been messing around with your girl" or "she's been lying". The authors say it's "unclear," with a possible "sexual connotation."
That's not the end of the funnies, folks. This one could also benefit from cranking up the laugh track:
“In your mouth and your teeth, constantly stared at you, the measuring vessel of your lord. What is it?
Beer.”
So there you have it: an ancient beer joke. (At least, a riddle referring to its taste, the authors say.)
Perhaps something has been lost in the translation through all those many centuries. And since they were meant as riddles designed to communicate truths about life - "wisdom literature," as the authors call it -- perhaps gut-splitting hilarity was not the point.
Or maybe there's another explanation for the lack of mirth these riddles evoke.
Van Dijk criticized the work of this long-ago student, dismissing it as an example of "very careless writing."
This student, then, could have used the help of -- to steal a punchline from one of the riddles -- "auxiliary forces."
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The tablet was found in 1976 in modern-day Iraq, and may have been the work of a sloppy student from 1,500 B.C.
Comments (1)
BY ROLANDO PUJOL / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 12:19 AM
OK, they aren't exactly knee-slappers, but 3,500 years ago, the six riddles found on an ancient tablet in Iraq could well have been quite the howlers — and may even contain the oldest "Yo Mama" joke known to man.
The cuneiform chucklers, believed to be written by a Babylonian student circa 1,500 B.C., were carved on a damaged tablet, discovered in 1976 by an archaeologist, J.J. van Dijk. The tablet has since vanished, but van Dijk preserved what was written on it. Michael Streck and Nathan Wasserman studied the riddles and published their findings in the noted journal Iraq, published by the British Institute for the Study of Iraq.
The riddles' subject matter is earthy - sex, beer, and, of course, humor at the expense of mom.
The riddle that has most captured the imagination is cryptic, but unquestionably involves something sassy being said about somebody's mother:
“...of your mother is by the one who has intercourse with her. What/who is it?
[No answer]”
OK, yes, not funny. Some of the words have clearly been lost. The authors label it as "solution undeciphered," but some see (hopefully) an ancient stab at humor.
Some of the other riddles are a little clearer, if not terribly funny.
To wit:
“The deflowered girl did not become pregnant. The undeflowered girl became pregnant. What is it?
[Answer] Auxiliary forces.”
Just what were they trying to say here? IO9, a pop-culture blog, calls it conceptual, perhaps the work of an ancient "Andy Kaufman." Huffington Post calls it "surrealist." A commenter on the Discoblog sketches a somewhat plausible scenario: "auxiliary forces" is clearly "somebody else has been messing around with your girl" or "she's been lying". The authors say it's "unclear," with a possible "sexual connotation."
That's not the end of the funnies, folks. This one could also benefit from cranking up the laugh track:
“In your mouth and your teeth, constantly stared at you, the measuring vessel of your lord. What is it?
Beer.”
So there you have it: an ancient beer joke. (At least, a riddle referring to its taste, the authors say.)
Perhaps something has been lost in the translation through all those many centuries. And since they were meant as riddles designed to communicate truths about life - "wisdom literature," as the authors call it -- perhaps gut-splitting hilarity was not the point.
Or maybe there's another explanation for the lack of mirth these riddles evoke.
Van Dijk criticized the work of this long-ago student, dismissing it as an example of "very careless writing."
This student, then, could have used the help of -- to steal a punchline from one of the riddles -- "auxiliary forces."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
