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
Geography of Mesopotamia was similarly known as "Gu-gubba" (Akkadian "Kisad tamtim") "bank of the sea." A more comprehensive name of southern Mesopotamia was "Kengi", "the land," or "Kengi Sumer", "the land of Sumer". Sumer has been supposed to be the original of the Biblical Shinar and the Sankhar of the Amarna letters. Opposed to Kengi and Sumer were Urra (Un) and Akkad or northern Babylonia. The original meaning of Urra was perhaps "clayey soil," but it came to signify "the upper country" or "highlands," "kengi" being "the lowlands." In Semitic times, Urra was pronounced Un and confounded with "uru", "city" as a geographical