The year is 1916, in the middle of the First World War. The young English archaeologist and officer Thomas E. Lawrence (1888-1935) travels on a secret mission from Cairo to the Arabian Peninsula. His mission: to find out whether the Prince of Mecca is ready to revolt against the Ottoman rulers. Lawrence has no idea that this journey will change his life forever. He quickly succumbs to the magic of the endless desert and its mysterious inhabitants, the Bedouins. At the side of Emir Faisal, he leads the tribes of Arabia into battle against the Turkish army all the way to the gates of Damascus. T. E. Lawrence becomes the famous "Lawrence of Arabia" - a living legend. But the Western powers had long since divided up the conquered territory among themselves in a secret conference; there would be no Arab state. Did Lawrence know about these agreements? Did he betray his friends by concealing the bitter truth from them? Who was the man behind the myth? Syrian-born archaeologist and long-time museum director Prof. Dr. Mamoun Fansa provides insights into the work of this polarising man from an Arab perspective and tells about the organisation of the Bedouin people.
