Did you know that the world’s first declaration of human rights comes from ancient Persia?
Watch this video from the Farhang Foundation to learn more:
This ancient record has now been recognised as the world’s first charter of human rights. It is translated into all six official languages of the United Nations and its provisions parallel the first four Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
From Babylon the idea of human rights spread quickly to India, Greece and eventually Rome. Documents asserting individual rights, such as:
- The Magna Carta (1215)
- The Petition of Right (1628)
- The US Constitution (1787)
- The French Declaration of the Rights of the Citizen (1789)
- The US Bill of Rights (1791)
are the written precursors to many of today’s human rights documents.
Now, 2558 years later as we enter 2023, the Iranian people are trying to restore basic human rights in Iran.