Ancient people also love the game of

Jokes and quizzes are an integral part of the life of ancient Mesopotamia 3500 years ago. Recently, scientists have clarified the content of the text carved on a piece of wood, contributing to providing insight into that strange hobby.

The text of the text is quite fragmented, most of it has been lost and seems to be written by an inexperienced hand. It is riddles around politics, beer and sex.

The research team, though not 100% sure about the origin of the wood slab, believed that its author lived in the ancient Mesopotamia, near the Persian Gulf.

Professor Nathan Wasserman from Hebrew University of Jerusalem Archaeological Institute and Professor Michael Streck from Altorientalisches Institute at Leipzig University detailed this discovery in the latest issue of Iraqi magazine.

The text is written in the Semitic language of Mesopotamia. This is the language commonly used by the Babylonians and the people of the Middle Kingdom in the Middle East.'The Semitic puzzle is a relatively rare genre ever found,' said Wasserman.

In 1976, it was located at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. After that time, Iraq had to go through three consecutive wars, the museum was looted. JJ Van Dijk was the one who copied the other version from the original text.'We are still trying to find out where it came out,' said Wasserman.

Among the decoded sentences, there are quite crude and sensual statements, many are very complex and metaphorical. But in the following verse, people find a bit of political humor, although it sounds quite violent: 'He cut his eyes: It is not the fate of a dead man. He cut his throat: A man died (Who is that?) ' . And the answer refers to a commander or a governor.

'This sentence describes the power of a governor like judges who can punish or condemn death to anyone,' Streck and Wasserman wrote.

The next two puzzles are disjointed, lewd, incoherent and confusing, meaning that when translated (but not sure) , 'the girl (the girl) who had a virginity was not pregnant. (The virgin girl) was pregnant (- What is this?) ' . The answer is quite strange, it is ' auxiliary force' . Wasserman said the significance of this mystery was beyond his understanding. 'I do not understand what is really happening, auxiliary forces often include soldiers who are not good, only below average and they are really unreliable, sometimes they flee between battles' , he said.

In addition, another sentence, very profound and crude: '. of your mother, who had sex (with her) (- Who is it / what?)' . However, the answer to this question has been lost.

In particular there is a sentence based on a metaphor: 'The tower is tall but doesn't see its shadow (-What is it?)'. The answer is sunlight. Imagine you are outside and see the sunbeams in the sky. 'It looks like a tower and of course there is no shadow, because it is light itself,' Wasserman explained.

The final puzzle is based on logic (Note: the translation of the first sentence is still uncertain): 'It is like a fish in a pond. It is like the troops before the king (-What is it?) '.

The answer is a broken bow. And this is the reason: Soldiers standing in front of the king are soldiers who do not have to fight and defend the kingdom. Also 'a fish in a pond is not really useful when you're hungry. Similarly, a broken bow is just a useless thing when you go to the battlefield or hunt a deer , 'Wasserman concludes.

The researchers emphasize the remaining number of Semitic quizzes as 'very small' . Therefore, this piece of wood is an important evidence to discover ancient literary genres.