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Who was the first god?
Apparently the intention of this question was not sufficiently clear:
humans have been around for quite a long time, and all the major religions of today
have existed for only a small fraction of that time.
What religions existed before Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.? And in whom did they believe?
Based on what I've seen from "believers" so far, if you're a theist you need not reply.
The earliest evidence of gods are statues like the Venus figurines common around the world.
The oldest undisputed such "fertility goddess" statue is the Venus of Hohle Fels (35,000-40,000 years ago),
but more contenious claims are made for the Venus of Berekhat Ram and Venus of Tan-Tan
(200,000-500,000 years ago).
The Lion man of the Hohlenstein Stadel
is thought to be older (~40,000 years ago)
than the Venus of Hohle Fels.
The Mask of la Roche-Cotard (+33,000 years ago) is another possible religious artifact
There not being any oral or written records from that time, it is not certain that these were in fact spiritual representations (but that is the consensus) or what they might represent. It is likely that the earliest religious artifacts were made of less durable materials than stone, and didn't survive in the geological record.
We can see some clues in this. The Egyptians worshiped animals (cats, crocodiles and cows). Often we see their gods as beings with the body of a man and the head of an animal. This is just a shorthand for their belief, that their gods could turn from man to animal at will.
The Egyptians also worshiped the sun.
So we see a mix of worship of natural phenomena, animals and people.
But when does this mythical relationship translate into being a god. Many Australian aborigine tribes would perform ceremonies that were designed to make the sun rise every morning. They don't worship the sun as a god, but they have a mythical relationship with it.
Source : https://www.quora.com/Who-was-the-first-god
Apparently the intention of this question was not sufficiently clear:
humans have been around for quite a long time, and all the major religions of today
have existed for only a small fraction of that time.
What religions existed before Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.? And in whom did they believe?
Based on what I've seen from "believers" so far, if you're a theist you need not reply.
The earliest evidence of gods are statues like the Venus figurines common around the world.
The oldest undisputed such "fertility goddess" statue is the Venus of Hohle Fels (35,000-40,000 years ago),
but more contenious claims are made for the Venus of Berekhat Ram and Venus of Tan-Tan
(200,000-500,000 years ago).
The Lion man of the Hohlenstein Stadel
is thought to be older (~40,000 years ago)
than the Venus of Hohle Fels.
The Mask of la Roche-Cotard (+33,000 years ago) is another possible religious artifact
There not being any oral or written records from that time, it is not certain that these were in fact spiritual representations (but that is the consensus) or what they might represent. It is likely that the earliest religious artifacts were made of less durable materials than stone, and didn't survive in the geological record.
We can see some clues in this. The Egyptians worshiped animals (cats, crocodiles and cows). Often we see their gods as beings with the body of a man and the head of an animal. This is just a shorthand for their belief, that their gods could turn from man to animal at will.
The Egyptians also worshiped the sun.
So we see a mix of worship of natural phenomena, animals and people.
But when does this mythical relationship translate into being a god. Many Australian aborigine tribes would perform ceremonies that were designed to make the sun rise every morning. They don't worship the sun as a god, but they have a mythical relationship with it.
Source : https://www.quora.com/Who-was-the-first-god
