Amanda Chang

  

Volume 10 | Issue II | June 2026

Groton School ’26

Massachusetts, United States

  

When I learned three years ago that the first named author in the world was Enheduanna, a Mesopotamian woman, I thought that I had discovered an ancient feminist society. Yet, while reading the Exaltation of Inanna, I learned that the surviving editions of her hymns were edited by later scribes, who had repeatedly reshaped the material in accordance with contemporary social norms and anxieties. I wanted to understand how this process of transmission affected meaning, so I began studying Akkadian independently. I soon learned that Mesopotamia was hardly a feminist society, but my love for antiquity was undimmed. This paper was prompted by a desire to reflect on the cross-cultural transmission of myth, examining how Mesopotamian myths were adapted into Hebrew and Greek contexts via the “Orientalizing kit” and scribal curricula. Working with The Schola pushed me to become a more analytical thinker, refining my arguments by sharpening a diffusionist methodology and greatly increasing my paper’s analytical density. Outside of academics, I enjoy playing the flute and exploring digital design. I plan on pursuing Classics and Ancient Near East Studies in college, with a focus on digital preservation and public history.