Over 7000 years ago, the history's earliest civilization began to rise in Mesopotamia, fueled by the floods of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Many ideas that the Sumerians first practiced are still widespread today. Writing is among these ideas. First used for accounting in trade documents, Cuneiform script was written on clay tablets for thousands of years after Sumer had fallen.

Among 18 of these early accounting tablets lies another historical milestone: the oldest known name. A tablet dated to 3200 BC had the following inscription:

28,086 measures barley 37 months Kushim

Historians are unsure if "Kushim" referred to a person, a title, or an organization, but it is the oldest name we remember today.

The list of oldest names includes some other interesting individuals. Two generations after Kushim, the names of two slaves are recorded while their slave-owner's name is forgotten. An ancient king of Egypt is also on the list.

These ancient names facsinate me. It is certainly just random chance that made these names remembered for many millenia after their bearers had passed. They beg the question: Who does history remember? Who do we forget?