My Iphone 4 won't activate despite putting in the correct apple ID?

I've had my old iphone 4 sitting in a drawer for years and I decided that I want to switch back from my samsung mini s3 and start using my iphone again. I remember wiping my iphone a few years ago via itunes or something like that and restored the phone back to its origional settings. Now almost 2 years later the iphone isn't letting me activate it. So far I have chosen the country and language settings and connected it to my Wi-Fi I'm stuck on the "Activate iPhone" page. It's asking me to put in my Apple ID and password yet every time I put it in it tries to connect for about 5 seconds and then tells me that it's incorrect however, I know for definite that what I'm typing in is correct as when I log into my apple ID/itunes on my laptop it works and logs in. I don't understand why it keeps telling me that my apple id is incorrect even though it's the only one I have ever used on that phone. How do I resolve this problem and get the phone to activate?
(I don't think I would be able to take the phone into an Apple store because as I have said it's been sitting in a drawer unused for a couple of years and I think that all of the packaging has been thrown away therefore there would be no way for me to prove to them in the store that the phone is actually mine)

What do I do? Thanks in advance.

Added (1). * I have just pressed the "Activate Help" option and it says "Your iphone could not be activated because the activation server can't be reached. Try connecting your iphone to itunes to activate it, or try again in a few minutes" - I have tried connecting it to itunes yet it still isn't working?!

The SIM card may be absent or invalid. If it's really an incorrect password, you must either remember the password or start using the phone as a paperweight. Apple will likely want a court order to help you, as they've been burned by too many bogus requests in the past.

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