Bar joke

The earliest known example of a bar joke is Sumerian, appearing in the form of two slightly different versions of a proverb inscribed alongside many others on two clay tablets[1][2] excavated at Nippur at the end of the 19th century.

'"[4] The Assyriologist Seraina Nett provides a slightly different translation, suggesting that the proverb be read as "A dog entered into a tavern and said, 'I cannot see anything.

Gordon suggested that the inn also apparently served as a brothel (he notes that the word used in the proverb for inn or tavern, "éš-dam", can also be translated as "brothel", and it was common in ancient Mesopotamia for prostitution to take place in these establishments[3]), and thus "the dog wanted to see what was 'going on behind closed doors'".

[4] Nett suggests that the punchline could be a pun that is incomprehensible to modern readers, or a reference to some figure who was well known at the time but similarly unfamiliar to us today.

[7] Another variant involves several men walking into the bar together, often with related professions, such as a priest, a minister and a rabbi.