Meet Kushim. It is very rare that we get an insight into an individual from ancient history, let alone one from ancient Sumer. This is one of the truly distant civilizations, and just as dynastic Egypt was getting its act together Kushim was counting beans in the Sumerian city of Uruk sometime between 3,400 and 3,000 BC.

As an individual, Kushim might have been, somewhat ironically, quite forgettable. He appears to have been so extraordinarily normal he may even have owned the world's first mass-produced item: a beveled-rim bowl, an item that archaeologists have found everywhere in Uruk and which, when filled with grain, seems to have been the ancient version ...

Kushim contemplated the choices. Power and wealth are great, but what good is power without the glory of living forever in songs and stories? And surely one couldn't be remembered without being famous, and couldn't be famous without being rich - the creature must be lying. Kushim opened his mouth and spoke, "I choose to be remembered." "Very well."