Episode 1 · Oman: Who Will Find the Whistle?

Where are we? Mutrah Souq in Muscat, Nizwa Fort, and the shore of the Arabian Sea in the year 1600.

The adventure: A falcon called Osama lands on Layan's head, wearing a golden whistle just like Dad's! The family chases it all the way to Nizwa Fort, meets Ahmed the sailor, and discovers the Omani rebels fighting the Portuguese occupation.

Did you know?

• The Portuguese occupied Oman's coast in 1507 to control the sea trade routes. Muscat was freed in 1650, led by Imam Sultan bin Saif.
• Oman was a sea link between China, India and Africa, and its sailors were famous for their ship-building and navigation skills.
• Nizwa Fort was built in the 17th century to protect the city, and its huge round tower is one of Oman's best-known landmarks.

On the table: Majboos and Omani halwa.

Talk about it together

Laith loves pirates, but Ahmed says the men on the shore are rebels, not pirates. What do you think the difference is?

Episode 2 · UAE: Looking for Ba'nout

Where are we? The National Museum of Ras Al Khaimah, then the desert of Ras Al Khaimah in 1810, and Dubai Creek in the 1960s.

The adventure: At the museum, Laith and Layan spot a picture of a sad camel called Ba'nout, taken away with a British naval mission. Sawsan whisks them back to the time of the Qawasim, then to 1960s Dubai, where they meet Muhair, Ba'nout's grandson, and help him solve the mystery of his grandfather's disappearance.

Did you know?

• Ras Al Khaimah was once known as Julfar, famous for trade and pearl diving.
• The UAE was founded in 1971, and Ras Al Khaimah was the last emirate to join, in February 1972.
• Archaeologists found some of the oldest traces of humans in Arabia at Jebel Faya in Sharjah.
• In the 1960s Dubai discovered the Fateh oil field, which sent the emirate's first oil abroad.

Talk about it together

Layan learned the seven emirates from her school atlas. Can you name them all? And how do you think Ba'nout felt so far from home?

Episode 3 · Saudi Arabia: A Tour with Tayma

Where are we? The Al-Ahsa oasis and Jabal Qarah, then Najran, Makkah and Riyadh.

The adventure: Missing Dad, who is digging in Al-Ahsa, Laith and Layan ask Sawsan for an adventure at Jabal Qarah. There they meet Tayma and her mischievous sheep Marzouqa, who take them on a whirlwind tour of the kingdom's history, ending with a surprise deep inside the mountain's caves.

Did you know?

• Al-Ahsa is the largest natural oasis in the world according to Guinness World Records, with more than two and a half million palm trees.
• Inside the caves of Jabal Qarah it stays mild all year round, even on the hottest summer days.
• Najran was an important stop on the Incense Route, travelled by caravans between East and West.
• The modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was united in 1932 by King Abdulaziz Al Saud.

On the table: Al-Ahsa dates, and Layan wants lots of them!

Talk about it together

Layan bets she can walk all of Jabal Qarah! What's the longest walk you've done together as a family? And what's the difference between an oasis and a desert?

Episode 4 · Iraq: Princess Nana and the First Museum in History

Where are we? The Iraq Museum in Baghdad, then the ancient city of Ur, and the House of Wisdom in Abbasid Baghdad.

The adventure: Dad is busy with the mystery of a stolen artefact, and at the Baghdad museum Laith and Layan hear that the first museum in history was in Iraq. Sawsan takes them to Ur, where Princess Ennigaldi-Nanna shows them around her museum, before they all escape to the House of Wisdom.

Did you know?

• The first museum in history is thought to have been created by the Babylonian princess Ennigaldi-Nanna in Ur, around 530 BC.
• The Royal Game of Ur is one of the oldest board games in the world, more than 4,500 years old.
• King Ur-Nammu wrote down one of the oldest known sets of laws in human history.
• Baghdad's House of Wisdom was a centre for translation and science linked to al-Khwarizmi, the father of algebra. It was destroyed by the Mongols in 1258.

On the table: Masgouf fish from the Tigris, and dolma.

Talk about it together

Why should ancient treasures stay in their home country? If you made a tiny museum in your bedroom like Layan, what would you put in it?

Episode 5 · Jordan: Sakhr the Sculptor

Where are we? Petra in the 1st century AD, then Ain Ghazal, between Amman and Zarqa.

The adventure: While Mum and her friend Siham scout Petra for film locations, Laith and Layan find an ancient Nabataean inscription. Sawsan sends them back to Nabataean times, where they meet Sakhr, who dreams of being a sculptor even though his father disapproves, and they go with him to Ain Ghazal to start chasing his dream.

Did you know?

• The Nabataeans carved the city of Petra into pink rock, and today it is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
• The Nabataeans dug channels and cisterns to collect rainwater, so they could farm in the middle of the desert.
• Petra was hidden from the outside world for centuries, until the Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt reached it in 1812.
• The plaster statues of Ain Ghazal are more than 9,000 years old, among the oldest large human statues in the world.

On the table: Mansaf first… then ice cream!

Talk about it together

Sakhr dreams of being a sculptor, and Laith changes his dream every day! What do you dream of being when you grow up, and why?

Episode 6 · Palestine: The Secret of the Samneh

Where are we? The Old City of Jerusalem at the end of 1948, then the village of al-Dawayima near Hebron.

The adventure: A plate of homemade samneh (ghee) from Hebron raises a big question: why can't we easily visit Palestine? For the first time Mum joins the adventure. At Damascus Gate they meet Teta Fatima from Hebron, who sells samneh and grape molasses, then visit al-Dawayima, Mum's grandmother's village, to learn the story of the Nakba.

Did you know?

• Jerusalem's Old City is surrounded by a huge wall built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. Damascus Gate and Herod's Gate are among its best-known gates.
• In the Nakba of 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their towns and villages, and many families still keep the keys to their homes today.
• Taboon bread is baked in a clay oven fired with wood, and it's the bread used to make musakhan.

On the table: Samneh with warm bread and sugar, musakhan, and za'atar manakish.

Talk about it together

Mum says grandmothers' stories are worth more than anything on the internet. Ask a grandparent: what story do they remember from when they were little?

Season 2

A new enemy appears: the Virus, who wants to erase our history! Laith and Layan face it with Sawsan across six Arab countries, from Lebanon to Sudan.

Episode 1 · Lebanon: Youssef and the Independence Maamoul

Where are we? Beirut on 22 November 1943, then the Phoenician port of Tyre, the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek and the Monastery of Mar Antonios Qozhaya.

The adventure: Laith wants Lebanon, Layan wants Mauritania, so they talk it through and agree on Lebanon first, to help Mum research her new film. In Beirut people are celebrating independence, and Youssef shares his mum's maamoul. He joins them in Phoenician Tyre, where a sailor gives them a bag of purple dye… which turns out to be the key to unmasking a mysterious new enemy!

Did you know?

• Lebanon became independent from the French Mandate on 22 November 1943.
• The Phoenicians made purple dye from a sea snail called murex, and their name is thought to come from a Greek word for purple.
• The Phoenician alphabet was one of the first to give each letter a sound, and it influenced many other languages.
• The cedar tree on Lebanon's flag stands for strength and endurance.

On the table: Maamoul, tabbouleh, kibbeh nayyeh and spicy potatoes.

Talk about it together

Laith and Layan settled their argument by talking, not shouting. How do you sort things out at home when you disagree?

Episode 2 · Mauritania: Juwayriya, the Ostrich Who Knows Everything

Where are we? Independence Square and the old market in Nouakchott, then the Agrijit plateau in the Stone Age and the ancient Amazigh kingdom of Mauretania.

The adventure: Layan is scared the Virus will come back, but curiosity wins. At the Nouakchott market they meet Juwayriya, a slightly show-off ostrich who says she knows everything, and she travels with them through the ages. When the Virus strikes again, a secret word meaning "sunshine" saves the day.

Did you know?

• People in Mauritania speak Arabic and the Hassaniya dialect, along with other national languages such as Pulaar, Soninke and Wolof.
• Rock drawings in Mauritania are more than 4,000 years old, and some of them show ostriches!
• The Tuareg are called the "blue men" because their indigo-dyed clothes left a blue tint on their skin.
• The ardin is a traditional stringed instrument played only by women.
• Mauritania became independent on 28 November 1960.

Talk about it together

Layan was scared, but she went on the adventure anyway. What's something you did even though you felt scared?

Episode 3 · Bahrain: Sqoo' and the Pearl

Where are we? The Dilmun civilisation 5,000 years ago and the Diraz temple, then the pearl beds, the Tylos burial site and Manama.

The adventure: On the shore of Dilmun, Laith and Layan find Sqoo', a sad oyster who thinks he's useless because he has never made a single pearl. They take him along on a journey through Bahrain's history… and in the end Sqoo' discovers a surprise that was growing inside him all along!

Did you know?

• Bahrain is the smallest Arab country by area.
• Dilmun was a trading hub between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, famous for its pearls.
• The Assyrians called Dilmun's pearls "fish eyes".
• Freshwater springs bubble up under the sea near the pearl beds, and pearl divers could dive as deep as 30 metres.
• A natural pearl takes at least two years to form.
• Bahrain became independent on 15 August 1971.

Talk about it together

Sqoo' thought he was a failure, but he was quietly making his pearl. What's something you're getting a little better at every day?

Episode 4 · Libya: Mukhtar and the Virus Lullaby

Where are we? Martyrs' Square in Tripoli, then the Stone Age site of Bir Dufan, Leptis Magna, Cyrene (Shahhat) and Zuwayla.

The adventure: Dad comes home from a dig with tools made by Stone Age people, and the adventure heads to Libya. There they meet Mukhtar, named after the hero Omar al-Mukhtar, who knows lots about his country. When the Virus finds them, Mukhtar sings it a Libyan lullaby… and it falls asleep!

Did you know?

• Libya is the fourth-largest country in Africa and in the Arab world.
• The Phoenicians founded Leptis Magna as a trading post; it later became the biggest Roman city in Libya, with a triumphal arch, a theatre and public baths.
• Cyrene (Shahhat), in the Green Mountain, was the first Greek settlement in the region, founded in 631 BC.
• Libyans resisted the Italian occupation that began in 1911, and Omar al-Mukhtar is one of the resistance's best-known heroes.

Talk about it together

Mukhtar was named after a hero. Do you know the story of your name, and why your family chose it?

Episode 5 · Yemen: Arwa the Ibex and the Marib Dam

Where are we? A Bronze Age farming village, then the Kingdom of Saba and the Marib Dam, the Ashrafiya Mosque and School in Taiz, and Al-Sabeen Square in Sana'a.

The adventure: Laith is tired and coughing, but he doesn't want to miss the trip. They meet Arwa, a female Yemeni ibex who wants to stay in every era she visits! But the Virus takes control of Arwa and her powerful horns, and Sawsan uses all her energy to protect them.

Did you know?

• Ancient Yemenis invented terraced farming on the hillsides thousands of years ago.
• The Yemeni ibex is a symbol of Yemen, standing for strength and beauty.
• The Marib Dam of the Kingdom of Saba watered more than 72 square kilometres of land, and collapsed around 575 AD.
• The Rasulid kings loved learning and built schools and mosques, like the Ashrafiya in Taiz.
• North and South Yemen united on 22 May 1990.

Talk about it together

Arwa wanted to live in every time she visited! If you could visit one moment in history, which would you choose, and why?

Episode 6 · Sudan: Zarif, the Crocodile Who's Scared of Crocodiles

Where are we? The Sabaloka waterfall north of Khartoum, then Kerma, Meroë (capital of the Kingdom of Kush), Old Dongola, Sennar and Khartoum.

The adventure: Mum is going to film in Sudan, and Layan is worried about the Nile crocodiles because of pollution. By the river they meet Zarif, a little crocodile… who is scared of crocodiles! He travels with them through Sudan's history, they meet Queen Amanirenas, and at the crucial moment Zarif discovers how brave he really is.

Did you know?

• In Khartoum, the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet to form the River Nile.
• Crocodiles keep replacing their teeth throughout their lives.
• Sudan has more than 250 pyramids, and they are steeper than Egypt's.
• "Kandake" was the title of the ruling queens of Kush, and Kandake Amanirenas led her armies against the Romans.
• The Funj Sultanate, also called the Blue Sultanate, was the first Arab Islamic state in Sudan.

Talk about it together

Zarif was scared of creatures just like him, then found out how strong he was. And what can we do to protect our rivers from pollution?