Robert Krulwich, an author for the National Geographic, asked himself what name was the first recorded in the historical record. What he found was a debate between scholars that argue for one of two contenders.

The first contender is Gal Sal (also the name of a 1942 movie) dated to about 3100 BC, Gal Sal was definitely a name as the individual was referred to as the owner of two slaves. The older contender though is Kushim, which dates to about a generation or two earlier than Gal Sal, the issue here is with the context of the text which suggests that Kushim could be a name or a title. In any case if Kushim is a name the first recorded name in history is that of an accountant.

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