As time passed, religion expanded. Time allowed for various stories to be told. These stories eventually became myths that were used in religion. The myths were told by basic language, and by rituals that were performed. The myths and rituals wouldn't be written down until much later, however, because writing had not been invented yet. Myth, ritual, and religion go hand in hand. All three are a part of each other. Often, myth and ritual are used to make religion easier to understand. The one myth that every culture has is the creation myth. It deals with a culture hero, (think Jesus) the first man and woman, a tree, and a snake or serpent of some kind. Most myths eventually have a recreation story, but not all do, so we can't really include that in the basic creation story. All cultures have a creation story and some are fairly complex to tell. The best way to get all of your followers to understand you is by making a ritual out of the myth. For example, Egyptians use the story of Osiris and eternal life to explain how they are able to use mummification. Egyptians believe in life after death, and mummification is the only way to preserve your body so you can keep it with you. Osiris, god of the dead, gave the Egyptians this knowledge, as well as agriculture, religion and law. Osiris also sits on the tribunal that judges where you go after you die. While Osiris is immortality, as he is the eternal god of the dead, Gilgamesh is an entirely different story about the same yearning for eternal life. The epic of Gilgamesh is one big myth that the Mesopotamians used to describe almost every major aspect of how they came to be. It is also their immortality myth. It's a long epic of how the great Gilgamesh brings civilization to his people by giving them wood and stone, and then quests for eternal life after the death of his best friend. You see, every culture has a culture hero.
