The Earliest Written Declaration of Human Dignity: The oldest surviving historical inscription defining universal human worth was decreed on the Iranian Plateau by Cyrus the Great (~539 BCE). Preserved on the Cyrus Cylinder, this foundational charter officially codified that every single human being possesses an inherent right to respect, freedom, and honor—a supreme virtue known in the Persian civilization as Arjmanid (ارجمندی), long predating Western legal frameworks of modern dignity.