Archaeology may not be a very exciting subject for the movies, but "The Human Adventure" is thoroughly entertaining, whether you know anything about archaeology or not. Much of the photography was done from an airplane, giving an excellent panorama of the Orient. Reproductions of the Tower of Babel and of Solomon's stables; the great art and architecture of the Palace of Darias; the hundred-foot-high Arch of Gtesiphon, which has withstood the storms of two thousand years; weapons used at Armageddon long before St. John's famous prophecy--scenes like these more than make up for the inevitable shots of Egyptian hieroglyphics, the pyramids of the Pharaohs, and the ridiculous dances of the expedition's native workmen.

In prehistoric times, human beings from the once verdant Sahara desert settled in the valley of the Nile and were forced by the difficulties of making a living to use their brains. Here and in the lands to the east arose the earliest civilizations. To study "the most remarkable process known to us in the universe: the rise of man from savagery to civilization," Professor James H. Breasted founded The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, and sent out fourteen expeditions to Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Anatolia, Iraq, and Persia. "The Human Adventure" was produced under the supervision of Professor Breasted during the Institute's excavations.

In one excavation, fourteen civilizations were found on top of each other in the space of one hundred feet. At the bottom is a Neolithic village, at the top an early Christian temple. From such remains, Professor Breasted and his followers have gained an intimate knowledge of ancient life, even of such matters as the level of prices over long periods of time and ancient court procedure.