They had intelligence that enabled them to dominate other species, to spread out all over the world, and even send a few chimpanzees to the moon. Many biologists think that the mutation for bigger brains met with success in Darwinian selection because it enabled humans to work together in larger groups. The large brains were needed to maintain social relationships in larger groups. Language was part of this social communication, and with it came stories, history, myths and religion that created group identities. Wagner's operas are powerful because they evoke primitive myths for modern humans.
Religion is powerful because it connects people with their origins and group identities.
Instead I believe the truth of science, at least on those subjects where scientific debate has reached consensus. But that does not mean that I reject fantastic myths. I am part of the Diaspora of African chimpanzees that landed on the moon, which is as fantastic as any traditional myth or religion. That fantastic event was not caused by a god we never met, but by the mutation for bigger brains. Now we chimpanzees have figured this out, and are hard at work to build brains much larger than our own.