In ancient times, religion was indistinguishable from what is known as

'mythology' in the present day and consisted of regular rituals based on a belief
in higher supernatural entities who created and continued to maintain the world
and surrounding cosmos. Theses entities were anthropomorphic and behaved in
ways which mirrored the values of the culture closely (as in Egypt) or sometimes
engaged in acts antithetical to those values (as one sees with the gods of Greece).
Religion, then and now, concerns itself with the spiritual aspect of the human
condition, gods and goddesses (or a single personal god or goddess), the creation
of the world, a human being's place in the world, life after death, eternity, and
how to escape from suffering in this world or in the next; and every nation has
created its own god in its own image and resemblance.
The Greek philosopher Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570-478 BCE) once wrote:

Mortals suppose that the gods are born and have clothes and voices and shapes
like their own. But if oxen, horses and lions had hands or could paint with their
hands and fashion works as men do, horses would paint horse-like images of
gods and oxen oxen-like ones, and each would fashion bodies like their own. The
Ethiopians consider the gods flat-nosed and black; the Thracians blue-eyed and
red-haired.

Xenophanes believed there was "one god, among gods and men the greatest, not
at all like mortals in body or mind" but he was in the minority. Monotheism did
not make sense to the ancient people aside from the visionaries and prophets of
Judaism. Most people, at least as far as can be discerned from the written and
archaeological record, believed in many gods, each of whom had a special sphere
of influence. In one's personal life there is not just one other person who provides
for one's needs; one interacts with many different kinds of people in order to
achieve wholeness and maintain a living.

In the course of one's life in the present day, one will interact with one's parents,
siblings, teachers, friends, lovers, employers, doctors, gas station attendants,
plumbers, politicians, veterinarians, and so on. No one single person can fill all
these roles or supply all of an individual's needs - just as it was in ancient times.
In this same way, the ancient people felt that no single god could possibly take
care of all the needs of an individual. Just as one would not go to a plumber with
one's sick dog, one would not go to a god of war with a problem concerning love.
If one were suffering heartbreak, one went to the goddess of love; if one wanted
to win at combat, only then would one consult the god of war.
THE MANY GODS OF THE RELIGIONS OF THE
ANCIENT WORLD FULFILLED THIS FUNCTION
AS SPECIALISTS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE
AREAS.
The many gods of the religions of the ancient world fulfilled this function as
specialists in their respective areas. In some cultures, a certain god or goddess
would become so popular that he or she would transcend the cultural
understanding of multiplicity and assume a position so powerful and all-
encompassing as almost transform a polytheistic culture into henotheism.

While polytheism means the worship of many gods, henotheism means the
worship of one god in many forms. This shift in understanding was extremely
rare in the ancient world, and the goddess Isis and god Amun of Egypt are
probably the best examples of the complete ascendancy of a deity from one-
among-many to the supreme creator and sustainer of the universe recognized in
different forms.

As noted, every ancient culture practiced some form of religion, but where
religion began cannot be pinpointed with any certainty. The argument over
whether Mesopotamian religion inspired that of the Egyptians has gone on for
over a century now and is no closer to being resolved than when it began. It is
most probable that every culture developed its own belief in supernatural
entities to explain natural phenomena (day and night, the seasons) or to help
make sense of their lives and the uncertain state humans find themselves in
daily.

While it may be an interesting exercise in cultural exchange to attempt tracing

the origins of religion, it does not seem a very worthwhile use of one's time,
when it seems fairly clear that the religious impulse is simply a part of the
human condition and different cultures in different parts of the world could have
come to the same conclusions about the meaning of life independently.