Mesopotamia, Oxford Mesopotamia, Oxford Mesopotamia is a narrow ait (about 800 yards by 30 yards) that forms part of the University Parks in Oxford, England. It lies between the upper and lower levels of the River Cherwell which are partly interspersed with the Thames. The name Mesopotamia in Greek means "between the rivers", and is shared with an area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq. The land was purchased by the University of Oxford during the expansion of the Oxford University Parks between 1860 and 1865. A footpath, Mesopotamia Walk, laid out in 1865 runs along the centre of
History of Mesopotamia often dubbed the cradle of civilization. The rise of the first cities in southern Mesopotamia dates to the Uruk period, from c. 4000 BC onward; its regional independence ended with the Achaemenid conquest in 539 BC, although a few native neo-Assyrian kingdoms existed at different times. Mesopotamia literally means "(Land) between rivers" in ancient Greek. The oldest known occurrence of the name Mesopotamia dates to the 4th century BC, when it was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria. Later it was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the Tigris,