Wadi Esfai is a seasonal watercourse in the Hajar Mountains of

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

. It runs from the village of Sifuni on the

Mleiha Mleiha, also Mileiha or Malaihah ( ar, ملَيْحَة), is a town in the Emirate of Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a population of 4,768 (2015), located some south of the inland Sharjah town of Dhaid. It is the location of archa ...

Fujairah Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...

highway (E84) to join Wadi Shawkah south of the village of Esfai. Wadi Esfai receives high levels of winter rainfall, sufficient to trigger flash floods powerful enough to wash away the road traversing the

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

and will also receive rainfall in the summer months. Traditionally home to members of the Mazari tribe, the wadi Esfai is notable particularly for the discovery of a new species of moth from the genus '' Meharia'': ''Meharia breithaupti''. The ''Meharia'' moth was known to inhabit arid regions, and the related '' Meharia philbyi'' has been found in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman. ''Meharia philbyi'' was named for the Arabist and explorer Harry St John Philby in 1952. The new moth was named for its discoverer, German entomologist Roland Breithaupt. A 1937 survey of wadis in Southeastern Arabia undertaken by the British Air Ministry found Wadi Esfai to be a 'valley of small villages of Mazari, acknowledging the Sheikh of Sharjah', an allegiance that appears to have changed in subsequent years.A Collection of Valleys in the Persian Gulf Coast of Arabia, 1937 - AIR 5/1283, Catalogue II/J3/39/0 https://www.agda.ae/en/catalogue/tna/air/5/1283/n/1 File:Wadi Esfai Water Damage.jpg, The road to the village of Esfai – washed away by the seasonal flooding of the Wadi Esfai. File:Wadi Esfai Donkeys.jpg, Wild donkeys roaming the Wadi Esfai File:Confluence of the Wadi Esfai and Wadi Shawka.jpg, The confluence of the Wadi Esfai with the Wadi Shawka

References

{{Reflist Rivers of the United Arab Emirates Geography of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah

See also

References