19. A clay tablet with an administrative text from the city of Uruk ,
c .3400–3000 BC . ‘Kushim’ may be the generic title of an officeholder, or the name of a particular individual. If Kushim was indeed a person, he may be the first individual in history whose name is known to us! All the names applied earlier in human history – the Neanderthals, the Natufians, Chauvet Cave, Göbekli Tepe – are modern inventions. We have no idea what the builders of Göbekli Tepe actually called the place. With the appearance of writing, we are beginning to hear history through the ears of its protagonists. When Kushim’s neighbours called out to him, they might really have shouted ‘Kushim!’ It is telling that the first recorded name in history belongs to an accountant, rather than a prophet, a poet or a great conqueror. 1 At this early stage, writing was limited to facts and gures. The great Sumerian
novel, if there ever was one, was never committed to clay tablets. Writing was
time-consuming and the reading public tiny, so no one saw any reason to use it
for anything other than essential record-keeping. If we look for the rst words of
wisdom reaching us from our ancestors, 5,000 years ago, we’re in for a big
disappointment. The earliest messages our ancestors have left us read, for
example, ‘29,086 measures barley 37 months Kushim.’ The most probable reading
of this sentence is: ‘A total of 29,086 measures of barley were received over the
course of 37 months. Signed, Kushim.’ Alas, the rst texts of history contain no
philosophical insights, no poetry, legends, laws, or even royal triumphs. They are
humdrum economic documents, recording the payment of taxes, the accumulation
of debts and the ownership of property.
