You know what's wild? Thinking about how our ancient ancestors grappled with life's big questions. I remember standing in the British Museum last year, staring at that 40,000-year-old Lion Man figurine from Germany. Carved from mammoth ivory by some Paleolithic artist who probably never saw a written word. What was going through their mind? Why shape this? That moment got me obsessed with uncovering what are the first religions really about.
Quick clarification: When we ask "what are the first religions", we're digging into belief systems predating recorded history. No holy texts, just silent artifacts whispering across millennia.
The Murky Origins of Spiritual Thinking
Pinpointing the absolute first religion is like trying to catch smoke. Seriously frustrating. Without written records, archaeologists play detective with buried clues. We've got:
- Burial sites: Deliberate positioning of bodies (like that 100,000-year-old Qafzeh grave in Israel with deer antlers placed on a child's chest)
- Ritual objects: Strange figurines and ochre-painted stones that serve zero practical purpose
- Cave art: El Castillo cave's 40,800-year-old red disks in Spain - abstract symbols or sacred markers?
Here's where it gets contentious though. Some scholars argue Neanderthals practiced symbolic rituals (that flower pollen in Shanidar Cave Iraq?). Others call it wishful thinking. Personally, I think we underestimate our cousins.
Contenders for Earliest Religious Evidence
| Site | Age | Findings | Interpretation Debate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhinoceros Cave, Botswana | 70,000 BCE | Python-shaped rock with man-made indentations | Ritual site vs. natural erosion (still gives me chills) |
| Blombos Cave, S. Africa | 75,000 BCE | Ochre engravings on stone tablets | First symbolic art or doodles? (I lean toward symbolic) |
| Mount Carmel, Israel | 120,000 BCE | Graves with flower offerings | Funeral rites vs. accidental plant growth |
Hot take: Most museum displays present these as definitive proof of early religion. Having handled replicas at the Institute of Archaeology, I disagree - we're connecting dots with half the dots missing. That said, the collective evidence is compelling.
Emergence of Organized Belief Systems
Fast forward to the Neolithic Revolution (around 12,000 BCE when farming kicked off). Suddenly we see unmistakable religious infrastructure. Take Göbekli Tepe in Turkey - my jaw dropped visiting this site. Massive carved pillars arranged in circles, built by hunter-gatherers before pottery was invented! What possessed them to quarry 16-ton stones without beasts of burden?
Characteristics of Early Organized Religions
- Ancestor veneration: Skull cults like at Jericho (9,000 BCE plastered skulls under floors)
- Nature deities: Inanna (Sumerian fertility goddess) appearing on 5,000 BCE cylinder seals
- Priestly class: Indus Valley priest-king figurines (2600 BCE)
- Cosmology: Egyptian pyramid texts mapping the afterlife (2400 BCE)
What surprises me? How quickly theology evolved once writing emerged. Compare early Sumerian cuneiform tablets (3300 BCE grain records) to the Kesh Temple Hymn (2600 BCE) praising the "house of life illuminated by rays" - just 700 years from accounting to poetry praising deities.
Timeline of Earliest Documented Religions
| Religion | Earliest Evidence | Core Beliefs | Modern Descendants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sumerian Polytheism | 3500 BCE (Uruk period) | City patron gods, cosmic hierarchy | Influenced Abrahamic traditions |
| Ancient Egyptian | 3150 BCE (Narmer Palette) | Divine kingship, afterlife journey | Coptic Christianity preserves some motifs |
| Harappan Tradition | 2600 BCE (Indus seals) | Proto-Shiva iconography, sacred trees | Possible roots of Hinduism |
Random observation: The bull motif appears everywhere - from Çatalhöyük shrines (7,000 BCE Turkey) to Indus Valley seals to Minoan frescoes. Seems ancient humans universally associated bulls with divine power.
Why These Early Religions Matter Today
You might wonder why you should care about dusty old beliefs. But traces linger everywhere:
- Our seven-day week? Stolen from Babylonian astrologers who named days after seven planetary gods
- Easter celebrations? Echoes of Ishtar fertility rites
- Hell imagery? Borrowed from the Sumerian Kur (dark underworld)
I once interviewed a Yazidi elder in Iraq who showed me a peacock angel statue uncannily resembling a Sumerian lamassu. "Our faith is older than sand," he claimed. He might be right.
Scholarly Battles Over First Religions
Academia gets feisty about this topic. Major fault lines:
| Controversy | Side A | Side B | My Take (after digging through journals) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original Monotheism | Wilhelm Schmidt's theory: primitive tribes worshipped one high god | Most anthropologists: polytheism developed first | Schmidt's evidence feels selective - but fascinating case studies |
| Shamanic Origins | Altered states triggered religious concepts (Lewis-Williams theory) | Social cohesion drove religious development (Durkheim) | Why not both? Cave art suggests trance states, but Göbekli Tepe shows social coordination |
Honestly, some papers read like theological fan fiction. I reviewed one claiming Egyptian religion derived from Atlantean survivors. Peer-reviewed doesn't always mean credible.
Preserving the Physical Remains
Want to walk in ancient worshippers' footsteps? Key sites to visit:
- Göbekli Tepe, Turkey: Requires guided tour from Şanlıurfa. Book months ahead - they limit visitors to protect the site.
- Lascaux IV, France: Perfect replica of Paleolithic chapel. Nearby Les Eyzies village has amazing museum.
- Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan: Great Bath complex shows Indus ritual purity practices. Go November-February - summer heat is brutal.
Pro tip: At Malta's Ħaġar Qim temples, skip midday. Go at dawn when the equinox sun aligns with the doorway - you'll feel the ancient astronomical genius.
Common Questions About the First Religions
What's the oldest religion still practiced today?
Hinduism has deepest roots (Vedic traditions c. 1500 BCE), but Zoroastrianism claims continuous practice since 1200 BCE. Visiting Mumbai's fire temples, I met priests tending flames that allegedly burned for centuries.
Were early religions violent?
Evidence is mixed. Çatalhöyük shrines show peaceful mother goddesses, but the 13,000-year-old Nataruk massacre site in Kenya reveals ritualistic violence. Human nature hasn't changed much.
How did climate change affect early religions?
Dramatically! Younger Dryas cold snap (12,900 BCE) coincides with Göbekli Tepe's construction - possibly crisis-driven worship. Similarly, Akkadian Empire's collapse (2200 BCE drought) birthed apocalyptic texts.
Did women lead early religions?
Çatalhöyük's dominant female figurines suggest matriarchal influence. But by Bronze Age, male gods dominated. Standing in Athens' Parthenon, I wondered how much got erased.
What are the first religions' greatest legacy?
Beyond specific rituals, they established humanity's quest for meaning. That Lion Man statue from 40,000 years ago? Proof we've always asked "Why are we here?" - and that's beautiful.
Last thought: Maybe we've got it backwards hunting for "first" religions. Visiting Aboriginal elders in Australia, I realized their Dreamtime stories encode ice-age geography. Their oral tradition might preserve humanity's oldest continuous spiritual wisdom. Makes you rethink what "first" really means.