I would not call English a programming language. Programming languages, formal languages designed for instructing a computing device, are pretty different than natural human languages.
Actually, more like Akkadian (the dialect that the /Code of Hammurabi/ is written in) - it isn't the first, but is the best-preserved set of rules and instructions - while not a program (as the Law isn't exactly a monoid[1] of linear instructions that mutate state) it could be used the basis for one.
"Isn't English the first (or older) general purpose programming language?"