However, it was generally contended by European classic philologists that Thales was a pure Greek. Plutarch de Ls. Thus, Thales' visit to Egypt, whether once or many times, while his stay was longer or shorter, must be fact and to not acknowledge of the Persian and Egyptian influences is self-deceptive. In fact it is more natural and correct to consider that Thales' major portion of learning and profound knowledge must derive from Egypt, Persia, the Babylonian-Mesopotamian heritages, which had been of a much higher civilization at that time. In order to understand, we may have to remind ourselves of the regularity of historical development between two distinct cultures.
Culture always flows from the higher to the lower just like water.
This can be easily comprehended if we ask ourselves why the historical development of the Greek civilization started with Asia Minor's Greek colonies rather than anywhere else. They are neighbors west to Persia whose cultural origins went back to the Babylonian Mesopotamian civilizations. The naive ethno centric contention that everything important originates in the West is no more than a prejudice.