ISRAEL - Apparently, dealing with a national crisis with humorous memes and posts is not unique to our society. Archeologists recently uncovered a number of drawings and writings they believe originated during the ancient Syrian siege of Samaria recorded in Second Kings. Despite the apparent impending annihilation, severe famine, and ravaged economy, some in the community still found it necessary to sneak in some jokes.
Dr. Joel Davidson headed up the excavation that led to the discovery. "The biting sarcasm in some of these is pretty hilarious," he said. "If they would've had the internet back then, I'm sure some of these would have gone viral."
The collection was discovered in a sealed stone box and was very well preserved. One parchment had a picture of a man with a loaf of bread and people keeping their distance. The caption read, "Only time in my life I'm glad to be a leper." Another showed people hoarding donkey heads.
"The ones that made light about eating babies went a little too far for me," Davidson said. "But for the most part, they were pretty funny. This is a fascinating discovery about how people dealt with such an awful situation."
The ancient memes are scheduled to go on display at the Museum of the Bible later this year.