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nixon_why69yesterday at 2:17 PM2 repliesview on HN

We only have writing and, consequently, people who's names we know a few thousand years back.

A cult figure before writing would have more limited reach, and be forgotten because their name wasn't written down. But they'd still have been a cult figure.


Replies

zerohpyesterday at 6:39 PM

The Buddha lived before writing in India. We have plenty of other stories that were passed by oral tradition before they were written down.

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gaigalasyesterday at 6:18 PM

It's an interesting hypothesis we can never prove. We don't even know how old names are.