Quirky History of Riddles

Published Jan. 12, 2024

If we presume that humor is one of those rare phenomena that are to be understood as uniquely human, then it should come as little surprise that the riddle, as a literary device, is nearly as old as mankind itself. Indeed, as soon as we scrawled our first thoughts onto clay tablets, we also committed to history our primordial riddles and lewd jokes–which, as it turns out, are not terribly unlike those of today.

In 1976, archaeologist J.J. van Dijk unearthed such a tablet from the ruins of Babylon. Written in Akkadian with a cuneiform script, the ancient tablet covered such lofty topics as beer, sex, and even yo-mama jokes. It was written 3500 years ago in unmistakable riddle format.

One of the Babylonian riddles – translated by by Nathan Wasserman, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archaeology, and Michael Streck, a professor with the Altorientalisches Institut at Universität Leipzig – reads as follows:

In your mouth and your urine,
Constantly staring at you,
The measuring vessel of your lord.
What am I?

The answer, recorded in the ancient clay, is beer. Not exactly Seinfeld material, to be sure. But perhaps it rang true for the populace three millennia ago. Humor, after all, can be unique to culture and language. Often, meaning is lost in translation, whether through language, culture, or the passage of time.

The Bible itself sets forth more than a few riddles within its pages. One of my favorites comes in the book of Judges, in the account of Samson, the mighty strongman.

At his wedding feast, Samson poses the following riddle to his guests:

Out of the eater came something to eat,
Out of the strong came something sweet.

The answer is honey. In truth, it is a terrible riddle, because it is based on Samson’s unique, personal experience, of which his wedding guests have absolutely no knowledge (Samson slew a lion in the countryside, and some time later pulled a honeycomb from its rotting carcass).

Another historic riddle comes to us in the Greek tale of Oedipus. The mythical creature, Sphinx, is sent by the gods to guard the ancient city of Thebes, devouring any passerby unless they answer its riddle:

What has four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?

Over time, the riddle of the Sphinx remains unanswered, and the land becomes littered with the bones of its hapless victims. Eventually, the hero Oedipus comes along and answers the monster’s riddle:

“Man, who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two legs, and finally needs a cane in old age.”

In response, the Sphinx casts itself over a nearby cliff and perishes.

For a more contemporary iteration of riddle, you need look no further than the nearest fantasy novel. J.R.R. Tokien’s The Hobbit describes a battle of wits between Smeagol and Bilbo (you can read their full exchange of riddles in our Ultimate Guide to Challenging Riddles with Answers).

Another popular example comes to us in Harry Potter’s encounter with the Sphinx in J.K. Rowling’s fourth installment: The Gobet of Fire.

First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what’s always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?

The answer? Spider.

If you’re seeking an in-depth look at riddles through the ages, check out Marcel Danesi’s Curious History of the Riddle. In his artful combination of puzzle and history, Danesi entertains readers with more than 250 riddles spanning from ancient Egypt to Harry Potter.