I think that this paragraph represents what was happening in this era a lot around the world

I think the medicine men (or women) (maybe sort of like Merlin became in England and other places) who were "Medicine men or wise men with more knowledge than most of their time period" tended to be deferred to because they helped keep people alive mentally, emotionally, and physically when otherwise many or most would have died." And so this likely began how societies began to function several thousand years BC. 

So, even before Kings who were supposed to rule by "Divine Right" there were medicine people who kept the tribes alive when no one else could by whatever means they were able to.

This prevented human extinction during these times. So, thousands of years before Jesus and Buddha this was true. And Buddha was at least 2500 years ago in India where he was a Prince of Lumbini which is on the border now of India and Nepal.

begin partial quote from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_religion

Before the beginning of kingship in Sumer, the city-states were effectively ruled by theocratic priests and religious officials. Later, this role was supplanted by kings, but priests continued to exert great influence on Sumerian society. In early times, Sumerian temples were simple, one-room structures, sometimes built on elevated platforms. Towards the end of Sumerian civilization, these temples developed into ziggurats—tall, pyramidal structures with sanctuaries at the tops.