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I have found this wiki page about Twelve Articles but as it says in this article:

The Twelve Articles (1525) are considered to be the first record of human rights in Europe

it considers only Europe. Is there any other earlier known document or event which says about equal human rights in the history of humanity?

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Perhaps this is related: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule – James Jan 16 '12 at 18:48
Too vague. What specific rights? For which specific groups of people? Remember that even "universal" rights actually sometimes exclude some groups (felons etc...) – DVK Jan 17 '12 at 16:11
@DVK I kind of agree with You that my question is little bit :) too vague for SE site, but I really needed to recieve answer for question asked in this way so i hoped that it will pass :). – Archibald Jan 18 '12 at 10:06
You need to differentiate equal wealth (socialism) equal power (democracy) equal reproductive success (monogamy), or equal freedom (libertarianism). Till today we're somewhere between with different people wanting different equality. – Jim Thio May 13 '12 at 17:28

4 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

The bible, in the story of Noah, has seven commandments just after the flood, that are given to the sons of Noah. The bible explicitly states "He who spills the blood of man, his blood shall be spilled" (my translation from the Hebrew original. Jewish tradition has it as seven commandments, written out by the Rambam, who lived from 1138 to 1204. The commandments include:

  • Not spilling the blood of man (this is read as the right to life and freedom from attack).
  • Not taking property dishonestly or by force. (The Hebrew word is "Gezel", which means taking something which shouldn't rightly be yours by inappropriate means, as near as I can translate it.)
  • Incest is forbidden
  • A system of justice must be created.

These commandments are given (according to the Rambam, "Ways of Kings and Wars", chapter 8) to all humanity, and not only to the Jewish people. In the bible, this story appears before the inception of the people of Israel. These things mean that it was intended universally, for all humanity.

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Still the Bible permits slavery. Thus it does not promote equality of all people. – Anixx Jan 16 '12 at 20:16
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@Anixx, those rights applied to all, including slaves. The modern conceptions of freedom (along with other rights) did not apply. So it depends which rights the OP is most interested in. – Matthew Flaschen Jan 16 '12 at 20:50
@anixx - Also, slavery rules for Ancient Hebrews were pretty lenient. Including IIRC you couldn't sell them and you had to release them after $X (7???) years. They were more like POWs with specific rights than what you usually think of when considering slavery. I'm not an expert, you might wanna ask details on Judaism SE – DVK Jan 17 '12 at 16:10
The question does not refer to a specific list of rights, merely to any set given that applies to all of humanity. In this case, I think the answer is satisfactory. Also, while stemming from Jewish tradition, this bible story is told as being before the time of Judaism itself. It is before the time of Abraham. – Carmi Jan 17 '12 at 17:16
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@DVK If there was a requirement to free them after a fixed period of time I think Indentured Servant would be a better fit than POW. – Dan Neely Jan 17 '12 at 19:15
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up vote 4 down vote

If I were to name a non-sectarian document, I would cite the Hammurabi Code dates to somewhere in the early 18th century BC. It has the basic, "presumed innocent" idea — something we, in the United States, hold sacrosanct.

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Yeah, sacrosant. This is not the place for flames, nor the place for opinions: only facts. Hence, please, remove (or at least modify in a satisfactory way) the last sentence since that idea is violated daily. – Lohoris Jan 16 '12 at 21:21
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Simply because an idea or policy is sacrosanct does not mean that it isn't interfered with. While it may be violated daily, that does not mean that it is not something which our justice system and our populous professes as the standard by which the accused are measured. – cwallenpoole Jan 17 '12 at 7:43
Still, put it this way, you imply it is a very respected policy. Since it is not, I think you'd better clarify your post to stop giving this wrong idea. – Lohoris Jan 17 '12 at 9:50
Well, I think that entirely depends on your definition of the word, "respected". If you mean, "held in high esteem" or "viewed as worthy of honor," then I would say that it is very respected indeed. If you mean, "followed", then the question becomes a good deal more ambiguous and can vary based on a variety of variables. – cwallenpoole Jan 17 '12 at 10:37
And, because of that, it would be better to avoid stating it as you did. – Lohoris Jan 17 '12 at 10:45
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up vote 4 down vote

After some research i have also found this verse (Galatians 3:28, NIV) in New Testament:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

It might be younger than Hammurabi Code or story of Noah but in my opinion it describes freedom in little bit wider aspect so it is still worth mentioning.

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This is indeed the first statement of universal Christian rights, but it required you to be Christian! It excluded pagans and Jews, and later Muslims. Muslims only excluded Pagans. The only difference is today we include everybody. – Ron Maimon Mar 29 '12 at 6:07
up vote 0 down vote

Equality can be different: equality before law, equality before God, economic equality, racial/physiological equality, sexual equality etc etc etc.

Neither Judaism nor Christianity nor traditional classical religion provided for universal equality.

Judaism

  • permits slavery (inequality before law)

  • provides that Jews are the chosen people, prefers monotheistic non-Jews to polytheistic, restricts women's rights to participate in the service and visit the temple, provides for a priest caste (levites), restricts rights of the wounded to become priests, prefers a chosen dynasty of kings (those who descended from David), alleges that blacks were punished by the God for their sins with black color of their skin. (inequality before God, sexual inequality, racial inequality)

Christianity

  • permits slavery, although discourages it, permits hereditary dynasties (inequality before law)
  • provides that Christians are preferred to non-Christians (inequality before God)
  • restricts women's rights to become priests (sexual inequality)

Similar lists one can compile about any religion, doctrine and ideology.

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Some of this is not entirely indisputable. "equality," does not mean, "literal sameness of act" but rather, "sameness of value". David was condemned for the murder of Uriah, even though Uriah's life was (technically) his to dispose of. Similarly Christian "sexual inequality" is more accurately understood as assertion of "difference of role" not "gender superiority/inferiority" – cwallenpoole Jan 17 '12 at 7:45
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This does not answer the question I am afraid. It just refutes some points in other posts. Could you expend it to refute all major religions (which would kind of answer the question) or better yet focus on answering the question? – Sardathrion Jan 17 '12 at 8:21
-1, see my comments above. – Sardathrion Jan 18 '12 at 11:23
Oh, yes, As Mazdakits said in VIth century, slaves, ground and women should belong to everybody. +1 to Anixx – Gangnus Feb 9 '12 at 23:39
@Anixx: I don't think ancient Christianity permitted Christians to own Christian slaves, but I might be wrong. – Ron Maimon Mar 29 '12 at 6:08

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