The fulfillment of physical needs is an interest of mankind, since it existed in its current form, and all other kinds of early humans were mindful of it as well, enough food, to have water and heat, so that they could survive and reproduce. Certain types of humans, however, developed ideas, that went beyond these physical needs, and dealt with the question, what happens to a person, when he dies. They developed funeral rites and ideas about the afterlife, which are the first signs of it, that one suspects, that the dead man was more than just a combination of different bodily functions in his life.
However, we only know about “culture-creating” people, what thoughts they had about it. In ancient Greece, for example, the idea was developed, that the soul would live on in another world ruled by a certain god, and at the same time increased attention was paid to the soul during life.
This development took place in most cultures: wherever one had an idea of life after death, then the soul naturally gained in importance during life as well.
Some people developed a catalog of virtues, the fulfillment of which should have a positive effect on life after death; others modified these virtues and placed them in a social sense, without thinking about it directly, how a god or the gods would judge this. In most cultures, however, virtues are most closely associated with the concept of God, that prevail there.
Basically, virtues are probably the first kind, to deal with the well-being of the soul, although of course they have very little to do with it, what we are imagining today, when we say: "I have to do something for my soul too."
The idea, that this invisible part of a person is not only an important factor in his life, but that it also requires certain care, so it's very old. In the past, care was mostly based on it, that one paid attention to a virtuous life, to be judged favorably by the gods or the god after death, gradually an understanding of the soul developed, which has led to our modern conception.
The idea has been around for maybe two centuries, that you also do something for your soul, if you let them "dangle"., that therefore not only virtue and provision for the other world takes care of the soul, but also very worldly things can contribute to it.
But even this idea is basically older: even in antiquity people were convinced, that a healthy mind resides in a healthy body, So that the physical state also affects the mental states of a person (and thus at least partly on his soul) affects.
The targeted care of the body with the goal, to maintain one's mental and emotional state, also has a very long tradition.