Interesting essay on ancient jokes.
They are all the subjects of six 3,500-year-old riddles from ancient Babylon that researchers have deciphered but in many cases are still struggling to understand.
The riddles were written in Akkadian, an ancient Semitic language used by the Babylonians and Assyrians and recorded in logograms. They were found in present day Iraq years ago but had been forgotten until a German and Israeli professor, two of just a few-score people in the world today who understand the ancient tongue, translated them.
via The Media Line.