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The world’s oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900BC and suggests toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

It is a saying that of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq, and goes: “Sometimes 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.

A 1600BC gag about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second: “How do you entertain a bored pharaoh?  You sail a boatland 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.”

Jokes have varied over the year, with some taking the question and answer format while others are witty proverbs or riddles.

What they all share, however, is a willingness to deal with taboos and a degree of rebellion. Modern puns…and toilet humor can all be traced back to the very earliest jokes.

The top 10 oldest jokes can be viewed at www.dave-tv.co.uk.