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For centries an exotic but forbidden land has captured our imagination.

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Now for the first time

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we can explore this place of myth and legend.

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What we discover are extremes and surprises.

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This is a place

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where the ancient past is colliding with the future.

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But this land is also home to extraordinary wildlife.

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This is the story of the animals and people of Arabia.

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Sitting at the crossroads of the world,

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Arabia is bounded on three sides by sea and ringed by rugged mountains.

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But the story of Arabia

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must begin with her heartland

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the desert.

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This unforgiving wilderness

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covers 90% of Arabia.

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From the rocky wastelands of

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the north to the south,

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where the largest sand desert in the world smothers the land.

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To understand how any life can survive here

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we must take a journey through the dry heart of Arabia.

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One animal above all embodies what it takes to survive

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the Arabian desert.

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The animal that inspired the myth of the unicorn.

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The Arabian oryx.

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These beautiful antelope are the ultimate desert survivors.

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Getting all the moisture they need from the vegetation they eat.

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Yet just 40 years ago,

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oryx were on the edge of extinction.

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Victims of their own beauty, oryx were heavily hunted.

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At one stage, only eight animals remained in the wild.

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But intense efforts to protect them have been successful.

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Today, over 500 roam once more in the deserts

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of Saudi Arabia, Oman and The Emirates.

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The key to oryx survival is keeping on the move.

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They have an extraordinary ability to sniff out distant rain

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and will walk hundreds of miles to find the vegetation it brings.

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This same solution to desert survival was

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adopted by the only people to have mastered life here.

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The Bedouin nomads.

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The Bedouin owe their success to a remarkable partnership.

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Over 3, 000 years ago, ancestors of the Bedouin tamed

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the single-humped camel, the dromedary.

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The camel is almost as well adapted to the desert as the oryx.

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Able to travel 50 days without water.

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And they carry their own food store

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to get through long desert journeys,

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a hump made of energy-rich fat.

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Although few Bedouin are now truly nomadic,

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many still graze their camels in the desert.

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But to find their animals enough food,

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they must keep them on the move.

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Salif bin Hamad Alwheebi grew up as a true desert nomad.

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He watches for clues, like distant clouds,

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that might guide him

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and his clan to fresh grazing.

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Under the clear desert sky, the temperature plummets

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cold enough for a campfire.

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Storytelling is an ancient Bedouin tradition.

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This is the land of 1,001 Arabian Nights.

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Many stories are of the magical animals that avoid desert heat

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by emerging after dark.

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An Arabian wonder gecko, on the hunt for insects.

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Large eyes are great for night vision,

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but with no eyelids,

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a tongue is handy for keeping sand out.

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An Arabian jird, searches for grass seeds.

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In times of plenty, jirds will gather up to ten kilos of seeds

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to store in their burrows.

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One of the desert's most poisonous snakes-a horned viper.

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The horns are a form of camouflage amongst the desert grass.

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Most vipers lie in wait for their prey,

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but in the desert, where food is scarce,

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they must travel great distances.

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Side-winding helps grip soft sand.

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Jirds aren't travellers,

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they will not stray far from their stash of food.

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This makes them vulnerable.

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But tonight, the threat to this jird is not from the viper.

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He's in someone else's territory and he's been spotted.

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Food is so scarce here

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jirds will fight viciously to defend their territory.

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As dawn breaks, the story of the night's drama

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is left written in the sand.

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A lone scarab beetle is late for bed.

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Coffee originated in Arabia.

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But with water so sparse,

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the Bedouin drink it low volume and high strength.

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Salif wants his son, Hazar,

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to learn the skills of the Bedouin.

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The most important of which is how to control a camel.

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He's been training Hazar

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how to handle these difficult beasts.

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Now it's time for a test.

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Father and son are setting off on a journey to an annual festival

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where they'll compete against the best camel riders

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in the land.

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It's a journey that will take them

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through some of the harshest landscapes in the world.

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But journeying is what these people do.

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Bedouin have ranged all over Arabia for thousands of years,

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from the vast sand dunes of the south,

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to the rocky wilderness of the north.

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This is the desert first mapped by Lawrence of Arabia.

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Stony canyons provide a sanctuary for animals

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throughout the Middle East,

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like Nubian ibex.

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These wild goats can only survive here

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because precious water bubbles to the surface in springs.

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In summer, the females come to drink at these pools every day.

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The pool is guarded by a male ibex.

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He has exclusive access to the females who come here.

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He tastes the air to see

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if any of them are ready to mate.

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But this is such a prized spot

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that inevitably he has competition.

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Getting the upper ground will be key.

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The male's skulls are specially reinforced to take a battering.

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They are evenly matched. The battle could last up to an hour.

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But when a third male joins in,

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no-one seems to know who to fight.

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The party is soon broken up by a tell-tale smell in the air.

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The ibex are right to be skittish.

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Bedouin have always been skilled hunters.

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And there is an ancient guidebook to the best hunting grounds

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written in stone.

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For hundreds of years,

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the Bedouin have scratched messages for fellow travellers.

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Instructions on how to find grazing

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or herds of wild animals.

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But in parts of Arabia,

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the rocks tell an even more astounding story.

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These etchings are thousands of years old

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and they reveal a fertile grassland,

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filled with animals like lions and ostrich,

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that no longer roam the Arabian landscape.

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At the end of the last ice age-10,000 years ago,

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Arabia was green

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but she's been gradually drying out ever since.

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And the drying of Arabia has played its part

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in bringing down civilisations.

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At Mada'in Saleh in Saudi Arabia and Petra in Jordan

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are the breathtaking ruins of the Nabataean Empire.

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Their civilisation was built on the trade of a precious substance

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drawn from a desert plant.

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The Nabataeans learnt that when cut,

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this tree produces strong smelling resin.

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At the height of their empire, this was more valuable than gold.

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When burned, the resin produces an intoxicating aroma.

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The sweet smell of frankincense.

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The smoke has strong anti-depressant properties.

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Perhaps that's why this humble sap became a religious obsession

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from ancient Egypt to early Christianity,

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and remains popular today throughout Arabia.

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The Nabataean empire flourished on the trade of frankincense

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but as the desert dried out around them,

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the trade routes shifted and the empire fell into decline.

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The Bedouin strategy of keeping on the move

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became the only way to survive.

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The rocky deserts of northern Arabia are constantly being

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ground down by the heat and wind.

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This creates the sand that is blown south to form

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the vast sea of dunes known to Arabs as the Rub Al Khali,

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or to Western explorers simply as the Empty Quarter.

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This is a landscape entirely sculpted by wind.

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Covering an area the size of France,

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this is the largest expanse of sand in the world.

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Individual dunes can be 100 miles long.

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Salif and Hazar must cross just a corner of this hostile desert

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to reach their goal.

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This is where camels come into their own.

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Feet the size of a dinner plate spread their weight

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and prevent them sinking in to the soft sand.

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Translucent eyelids keep sand out of the eyes.

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The camels can walk on through the sandstorm

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but they need their riders to navigate.

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There are no landmarks here and the sand dunes Salif knew as a boy

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have long been blown away and replaced.

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The air temperatures here can reach 52 degrees Centigrade

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and the surface of the sand can reach 70 degrees.

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Hot enough to kill most animals.

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The sleek scales and torpedo-shaped nose of this lizard are a clue

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to its trick for escaping the heat.

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But its name is the give-away.

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The sandfish escapes cooking by swimming.

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Stirred like this, hot sand takes on the properties of liquid.

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Just 30 centimetres down,

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the sand is 30 degrees cooler.

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The midday temperatures drive most animals deep underground.

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In a special filming burrow deep in the desert

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we can witness a strange relationship.

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Dhub lizards share their burrows with scorpions.

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The dhub lizard's skin is too thick to pierce,

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so he tolerates the deadly tenant

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and the scorpion deters unwanted visitors.

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It's a useful relationship,

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although good manners are optional.

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If the dhub can cope with the midday heat,

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he'll have the desert to himself and he has a strategy for just that.

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As a reptile, he needs to warm up.

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He flattens his body to absorb the sun's rays.

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Black is the most effective colour for absorbing heat,

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soaking up 90% of the sun's energy.

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But on the scorching hot desert floor,

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the lizard reaches operating temperature in minutes.

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Rapid panting prevents his brain overheating

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while he plays his most extraordinary trick.

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The dhub's body is now undergoing a radical transformation.

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The black pigment drains away from his scales.

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His new pale skin now reflects most of the sun's rays.

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Making the dhub the coolest lizard under the sun.

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Only one animal shares the midday desert with the dhub

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and it uses a similar strategy.

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The pure white coat of the oryx reflects heat.

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While black markings protect its eyes

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from the brilliant glare of the sun.

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Oryx can travel even longer without water

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than camels

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but even they must eventually sniff out distant rain to survive.

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One male is dominant, and has sole breeding rights with the females.

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But this male has become weak through lack of food,

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and a rival makes a challenge.

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The dominant male has been driven out.

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The herd moves on without him.

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The deposed male is old and must

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now try to survive alone.

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In this brutal place, he may not last long.

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With food so scarce, many desert animals live a solitary existence.

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Using special filming techniques

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we can recreate the drama of their lives.

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A lesser jerboa.

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A hunter needs super senses to find such small,

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sparse prey.

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The Rueppell's desert fox has ears 20 times more sensitive

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than our own.

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The jerboa tries to hide, but the hole's not deep enough.

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The fox's sensitive nose tells him exactly where to dig.

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There's a sneaky back door.

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If he can squeeze through.

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Time for the jerboa to reveal his own secret weapon.

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Leg's like a kangaroo.

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The jerboa can hop more than ten times its own body length.

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But long legs don't make it easy to hide.

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They come into their own

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when the only option left is to run for it.

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Sometimes getting over is tough.

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Better to go under.

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The jerboa's quick but the fox is quicker.

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The jerboa's only hope is to out-manoeuvre

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and he has one last trick up his sleeve.

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Hairy feet.

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A shock of hair on the sole of his feet

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grips the sand for a quick turn.

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Desert survival requires sensible footwear.

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Tonight, the desert fox goes hungry.

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The jerboa's not the only one with special powers

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to survive the desert.

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The Arabian fat-tailed scorpion.

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Growing up to 15 centimetres long,

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her powerful neurotoxins kill several humans every year.

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She's hunting for beetles.

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She can't move fast, but she's got some special features.

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Highly-sensitive hairs can detect the faintest of movements.

263
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:56,750
And like something borrowed from the Batmobile,

264
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she sweeps the sand with delicate chest combs,

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picking up chemical signals left by her quarry.

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00:30:09,330 --> 00:30:11,280
She doesn't need to make a kill very often.

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She can survive up to a year between meals.

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00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:25,550
But the scorpion is prey as well as predator.

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The desert fox is still hungry

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00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:32,620
and not afraid to take on a scorpion.

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When the moon rises, he'll have more light to hunt

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and he'll have the upper hand.

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The scorpion has a trick to avoid being eaten.

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To see it ourselves we must

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enter the ultraviolet spectrum.

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In the hour before moonrise

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the air is filled with ultraviolet rays, invisible to the fox.

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00:31:06,030 --> 00:31:08,450
And the scorpion has an early-warning system

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to tell her that moonlight is on its way.

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Chemicals in the scorpion's skin

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are reacting to the UV rays.

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Every millimetre of the scorpion

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00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:21,560
has now become a UV sensor.

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Right down to her pincers,

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she is feeling the strong UV rays that are invisible to the fox.

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This tells her a full moon is on its way.

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It's going to be a risky night to be out.

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Her dinner can wait.

289
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It's time to find shelter.

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00:32:12,950 --> 00:32:16,660
At dawn, Salif faces Mecca for morning prayer.

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He and his son Hazar have nearly completed their journey.

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For Hazar,

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his first camel festival sounds ominous.

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They may be desert people,

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but even Bedouin

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00:33:14,150 --> 00:33:16,020
can't survive long in the sand sea.

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Their supplies are limited

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00:33:30,940 --> 00:33:34,130
and ultimately, they must always find fresh water.

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Luckily, Salif and Hazar are approaching their goal

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near the edge of the desert.

301
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Beyond, the land rises abruptly into towering mountains,

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some over 3,000 metres high.

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Here lies a secret that helps maintain life.

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This natural barrier catches the clouds

305
00:34:10,150 --> 00:34:13,460
and stops their moisture reaching the heartland of Arabia.

306
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:19,320
But this water isn't lost.

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It filters down, deep underground and if you know where to look,

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you can find it.

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Zahir bin Hamad is eight kilometres inside a mountain,

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cleaning a waterway dug

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00:34:43,620 --> 00:34:46,460
by his ancestors over 2,000 years ago.

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00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,720
But this water is not for use in the mountains,

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its destiny lies far inland.

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Channelled over 30 miles,

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this water is bringing life to the desert.

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An oasis.

317
00:36:10,260 --> 00:36:11,860
This water is precious.

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00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,190
And wherever there is treasure, there will be conflict.

319
00:36:16,370 --> 00:36:18,440
Zahir is the referee.

320
00:36:23,770 --> 00:36:26,000
He controls the flow of water to each farm

321
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,660
using a system devised by his ancestors.

322
00:36:31,690 --> 00:36:33,330
He uses a sundial to

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00:36:33,350 --> 00:36:35,140
decide who gets what and when.

324
00:36:53,980 --> 00:36:56,890
Each rock marks a share of only 15 minutes.

325
00:36:58,910 --> 00:37:01,280
Not long, Zahir must get it spot on.

326
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:05,900
Everyone trusts Zahir's time-keeping.

327
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After all, he's relying on a celestial authority.

328
00:37:11,420 --> 00:37:14,120
As the sun-dial shadow swings into position,

329
00:37:14,940 --> 00:37:16,520
Zahir releases the treasure.

330
00:37:27,980 --> 00:37:31,290
Water that fell as rain over 30,000 years ago

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00:37:31,930 --> 00:37:35,150
is now turning the heart of Arabia green once more.

332
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,780
Every oasis is a haven for wildlife.

333
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:40,590
Herons and greenshanks feed in the pools.

334
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,030
Thirsty travellers migrating between Europe and Africa

335
00:38:48,220 --> 00:38:52,060
come to drink, including Imperial eagles.

336
00:39:00,710 --> 00:39:03,200
Asiatic honeybees also come to drink daily.

337
00:39:11,460 --> 00:39:14,390
But their journey to the water is fraught with danger.

338
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:22,710
Blue-cheeked bee-eaters are on the look-out.

339
00:39:52,060 --> 00:39:54,800
The bee-eaters arrive at the oasis each spring

340
00:39:54,860 --> 00:39:56,790
with one thing on their mind.

341
00:39:57,410 --> 00:39:58,050
Breeding.

342
00:40:05,130 --> 00:40:08,900
Males try to win the females' favour by offering insect titbits.

343
00:40:29,370 --> 00:40:32,840
If she's suitably impressed, he gets his reward.

344
00:40:46,190 --> 00:40:48,310
Oasis villages also provide

345
00:40:48,310 --> 00:40:50,650
one vital ingredient that has fuelled

346
00:40:50,660 --> 00:40:53,520
every Bedouin journey for thousands of years.

347
00:41:01,300 --> 00:41:03,710
A fruit so valuable that

348
00:41:03,710 --> 00:41:06,460
expert pickers risk 20-metre climbs.

349
00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:11,400
Dates.

350
00:41:18,190 --> 00:41:21,470
Dates hold six times the energy content of other fruits

351
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:24,180
and preserve so well that they last for months.

352
00:41:25,820 --> 00:41:27,710
The annual date harvest is

353
00:41:27,710 --> 00:41:30,190
the busiest time of the year in every oasis.

354
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:41,220
Bedouin women come in from the surrounding desert to help.

355
00:41:44,490 --> 00:41:47,510
Without this simple fruit the Bedouin would never have been

356
00:41:47,510 --> 00:41:49,640
able to make their epic desert crossings.

357
00:41:52,350 --> 00:41:55,120
And oases play another crucial role.

358
00:41:58,240 --> 00:41:59,260
Filling stations.

359
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:13,010
After a long desert journey,

360
00:42:13,150 --> 00:42:15,680
a camel will drink up to 200 litres of water.

361
00:42:24,220 --> 00:42:26,780
Oasis towns provide a meeting point

362
00:42:26,910 --> 00:42:28,780
for far-flung Bedouin clans.

363
00:42:37,460 --> 00:42:39,290
Salif and Hazar have arrived in the

364
00:42:39,290 --> 00:42:41,080
Omani desert town of Al Mintarib

365
00:42:43,290 --> 00:42:44,880
for the Eid camel festival.

366
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:51,770
The whole town has come out to watch as rival clans compete

367
00:42:51,770 --> 00:42:53,810
to show off their camel-riding skills.

368
00:42:59,030 --> 00:43:01,360
Few youngsters these days grow up learning

369
00:43:01,370 --> 00:43:02,770
the ancient art of camel control.

370
00:43:08,220 --> 00:43:12,340
And the camels don't exactly respond well to an inexperienced hand.

371
00:43:28,710 --> 00:43:31,830
So far, the competition doesn't look too strong.

372
00:43:42,990 --> 00:43:45,480
But soon the premier riders get going.

373
00:43:46,620 --> 00:43:47,660
This is not a race,

374
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,570
it's a competition to show off your control.

375
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:52,480
The goal is to

376
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:56,080
ride camels in synchronized pairs, side by side.

377
00:43:56,500 --> 00:43:58,340
Running your camels in a straight line.

378
00:44:07,870 --> 00:44:09,550
Hazar has never had to control

379
00:44:09,550 --> 00:44:11,750
a camel in such a frenzied atmosphere.

380
00:44:16,690 --> 00:44:18,770
But Salif knows just

381
00:44:18,850 --> 00:44:20,550
how to calm their animals down.

382
00:44:28,370 --> 00:44:30,180
Everything Salif has taught his son

383
00:44:30,810 --> 00:44:33,000
will be tested in the next few minutes.

384
00:45:38,140 --> 00:45:41,080
Salif reaches out his arm to show the crowd

385
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:42,920
how close he and Hazar ride.

386
00:45:55,890 --> 00:45:57,610
Father and son win the day.

387
00:46:12,170 --> 00:46:13,430
The ancient Bedouin knowledge

388
00:46:13,470 --> 00:46:15,260
has been passed on to another generation.

389
00:46:18,970 --> 00:46:21,900
Now it's time to party, desert-style.

390
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:36,780
The relationship between man and camel

391
00:46:37,290 --> 00:46:40,370
has proved an enduring strategy for desert survival.

392
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:49,190
But the Bedouin can't claim to be the true masters of the desert.

393
00:46:54,310 --> 00:46:56,600
Without oases to sustain them

394
00:46:57,220 --> 00:46:59,050
they would never survive their journeys

395
00:46:59,070 --> 00:47:00,660
through the hostile dunes.

396
00:47:09,570 --> 00:47:13,920
Surely the master of desert survival is the animal that came

397
00:47:13,970 --> 00:47:20,550
so close to disappearing for ever from this landscape, the oryx.

398
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,570
Their ability to keep moving through the blistering heat,

399
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:33,360
find food and ultimately

400
00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:35,230
thrive in this harshest of landscapes

401
00:47:35,710 --> 00:47:37,090
is truly extraordinary.

402
00:47:46,830 --> 00:47:49,880
Hopefully, now that they have returned to the desert

403
00:47:49,980 --> 00:47:53,990
where they belong, oryx will remain the living emblem

404
00:47:53,990 --> 00:47:57,830
of this mighty sea of sand long into the future.