Man always fear the unknown ...
drifter,
Man fears and respects what is more powerful than him.
As far away as anyone can tell, the first "man" came out of Ethiopia, migrated through Djibouti...
When did man become man?
When he could tell stories.
The earliest humans recognized their many vulnerabilities and were keenly aware of their own mortality.
They did not have fur to protect them from the elements.
They did not have razor sharp claws and fangs to fight off predators.
They were not terribly fast runners.
They could not see very well in the dark.
They could not swim long distances.
Humans had two saving graces on which to depend for survival: intellect and community; aside from that, they were weak and knew it.
Everywhere humans looked, there was something more powerful than they were.
These more powerful things held sway over their lives, and as a result, over their collective psyche.
People fear what is more powerful than them.
They also respect what is more powerful than them.
People began to anthropomorphise the forces of nature and animals and tell stories about them.
They began to pray to what was more powerful than them.
They began to develop Gods - God to fear - Gods to worship - Gods to respect - Gods to beg for food and rain - Gods to blame for drought and pestilence.
Man was at the mercy of the Gods for everything, including whether or not there would be food for him to eat.
Man learning to plant and harvest crops, farm animals and use the river to irrigate fields gave him the ability to stop migrating to follow food and settle.