The Rigveda is one of the oldest literary monuments of humanity. In the approximately 1000 hymns of this text, which was likely composed between 1500 and 1000 BC, a religion focused on sacrifice is reflected, shaped by Vedic tribes that migrated from present-day Afghanistan to northern India around 2000 BC. This religion is, on one hand, rooted in Indo-European heritage, but on the other hand, it also paves the way for Hinduism. Thomas Oberlies meticulously traces their concepts of God, their cult practices, and their mythology in detail. Cosmology and ideas about the afterlife are examined, as well as the form of society and the nature of the legitimacy of power.