Why did ancient religions believe in creation?

It seems that human instinct forces us to believe in an ex-nihilo creation. Prior to the big bang theory why would someone accept such a concept? It seems obvious from a human perspective that the world was always here.

Was there a religion that believed there was electricity? Did any religion believe in atomic energy? These innovations took humanity by surprise. We never dreamt they existed. Isn’t it ironic that an advanced discovery like the big bang was assumed as fact for thousands of year?

I blame the “I”; the “I” knows it is eternal but it wonders what it is doing in this finite world? Everything in this world has time and space. If you focus on your “I” it seems foreign to this paradigm. Humans therefore conclude that the world is temporary and it therefore has a beginning and an end.

Observe how religions have a beginning and end to time as well as a purpose for the present. It fits perfectly with what the “I” is looking for. Obviously that doesn’t make any religion correct. It seems to me that this is the essence of what religions try to provide.