Going back thousands of years starting after the Ice Age ending in circa 12 000 BC - the world was a dangerous place to live in and the family was the core around which life was built. However, that was the start of evolution and Governance through thousands of years. Families started to work together for protection purposes and gradually tribes and thereafter nations and empires develop.
In that period religion also started and developed. There were thousands of gods discovered by mankind and graually gained power as a partner in Governance. A more recent example was the prohibition of eating of pork by the islam and Jewish religion based on consequences of deterioration of pork in the hot mid-east climate - causing health and evend eath problems as a result. The people won't accept such rulings from the actual Government and so they turned it into a religious rule - which at times had more clout than civic authorities.
With Governance becoming strengthened some formats of religion vanished virtually totally while others went into near to total decline. Another aspect was the absorbing of elements of one religion being taken forward by the competing religion. There are elements in the Northern and cnetral Europe old religions that was absorbed in the Christian religion - eg Yule became Christmas, the feast day after winter - namely the 1st of May - before laborers started out to plant for the new season - became labor day. The Viking word for delinquents after death was Hel - the Christian word was hell.
Empires came and went - some lasted hundreds of years before their demise - mostly caused by moral decline and collapse - eg the Western Roman Empire - or through conquest like happened nearly a thousand years later. Some were caused by conquest by competing empires. As to religions it became part of the power used by political leaders in the Dark and Early Middle Ages. After that religion gradually became less effective in governance and through centuries it was a key supporter to development of liberal and constitutional governance. However - in essence religion remains important to Billions of People throughout the world.
Democracy was developed strongly after the American War of Independence and during the next two centuries became the best form of Governance ever - the ideal being the protection of the rights and privileges of all people. However, Democracy is under attack at present and for that purpose -
* new religions based on so-called science started to develop and be nurtured - eg Global Warming and Covid to anme a few;
* family life is under attack with the aim of wiping it out as a factor in societal development; and
* the destruction of Democracy through open borders and people trafficking to destroy nation states and cultural beliefs and freedom.
So the world is much the same - ancient kingdoms used religion as a means to solidify their rule - modern politicians seems to try and do the same with the new religions they u se for the purpose.