The World's Oldest Jokes

The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests that toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today. It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: 'Something which has never occurred since time immemorial, a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap.'

It heads the world's oldest top 10 joke list published by the University of Wolverhampton on today. A 1600 BC gag about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second - 'How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish.'

The oldest British joke dates back to the 10th Century and reveals the bawdy face of the Anglo-Saxons - 'What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before? Answer: A key.'

The study was commissioned by television channel Dave. The top 10 oldest jokes can be viewed at www.dave-tv.co.uk.