5500-4000 BC – the Badarian: The dawn of the gods.

The Badarian were a nomad tribe from Africa located in Upper Egypt; and the forefathers of what later became of the greatest and most impressive of all ancient history’s religions: the Egyptians.

There has been many debates about the Badarian beliefs and religious rites, nothing can be proven as the findings have not been too clear, however, among the things discovered is that the Badarian, even though they were nomadic, they buried their dead in a ritualistic manner – body pointing south, face pointing west. It is believed that mankind began burying their dead when they began to belief in an afterlife, trying to supply their loved ones with the necessary items for their journey to the afterlife, before they believed in life after death, humans did what other animals and few current tribes do: leave the bodies where they died. They buried their dead with ornaments representing animals, pottery and other amulets that coincide with some sort of spiritual/religious beliefs. The fact that the Badarian consistently buried their dead is enough to safely assume that they believed in the afterlife, but more concise proof is yet to be discovered. We can conclusively say that the Badarian were the predecessors of a systematic form of religion.

Humanity just created the afterlife, in an effort to comfort themselves for the loss of a loved one. The need to fill the void, left by their death, with the hopes of joining them in that journey later in their lives propelled mankind to use one of their most magnificent tools: their imagination, hence, creating life after death. The official birth of religion!