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Where does the European Culture come from? At first, it seems like an easy question – the roots of the European culture lie in antiquity and Christianity, says Jaan Lahe, doctor of theology at Tallinn University. Yet, no culture or religion can develop in isolation, but needs a wider context.

The Greek civilisation is thought to stem from the Mycenaean culture from 2000 BC – the first group to ever speak Greek – but it became extinct on 12. Century BC.

The reasons for its demise are unknown, but chronologically, the fall of the Mycenaean culture happened at roughly the same period as the attacks the Middle-East and Mediterranean countries fell under, from what are commonly known as the Sea Peoples.

These attacks destroyed many power centres in the Mediterranean area, and caused a general decline in culture, which also affected Greece. The Greek peoples lost literacy, which brought the civilisation back to the level of the pre-Greek civilisation era.

The new rise in Greek culture is known as the archaic era, between 8. Century and 6. Century BC. This was a breakthrough period for Greece. This was the time when city-states (polis) were established, the Greeks started using the alphabet and returned to being a civilised people. They started establishing colonies in the Mediterranean area. Greek literature and philosophy were also born then.

The Greeks were not isolated from other peoples on and near the Mediterranean shores. Even though their contacts to the East were severed during the early iron age (the dark ages, 11.-9. Century BC), they were re-established during 9. Century BC, which helped the development of the Greek civilisation immensely.

As the peoples the Greeks came into contact with – the Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Phoenicians – had much older and more developed cultures, the Greeks came under their influence.

They borrowed the alphabet from the Phoenicians, the know-how to make sculptures from the Egyptians, and the understanding of the beginning and construction of the World from the Mesopotamians.

The Greek beliefs of death and the Other Side of the archaic era is clearly influenced by Egypt, as well as Persia.

Naturally, the Greeks customised everything they borrowed, but the connections to other eastern high cultures are undisputable. As the most intensive cultural contacts to the east happened during the 8. and 7. Century BC, this era is known as the Oriental Period of the Greek culture.

Christianity was also not something that appeared into the void – it stems from Israeli beliefs. The latter was not isolated on its own, but got its influences from high cultures such as Mesopotamia, Canaan and Persia, i.e. the same cultures that influenced antiquity.

What can we see from this? We can see that the roots of the European culture lie in ancient Middle-East high cultures.

If we want to know our real roots, we have to travel back in time even further than ancient Greece and learn the history, culture and beliefs of ancient Middle-East peoples. The Swiss researcher Walter Burkert (1931-2015) has researched the oriental period in Greek cultural history. His book “Greeks and the Orient. From Homer to Mages” was recently translated into Estonian and published by TU Press. This is a good guide to understanding early cultural contact points between the East and the West – the roots of our civilisation.