Dr. Aviya Fraenkel was awarded a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship to pursue her research project titled "The Literary Palaces of Ancient Sumerian Rulers ‒ Unity of Idea and Form". Her project will explore the structural and poetic characteristics of the royal praise hymns of the kings of the Sumerian dynasty, and the political ideology they serve, focusing on Kings Shulgi and Ur-Namma, the founders of the Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur III).

Aviya received a BA in biblical studies and archaeology, an MA in biblical studies and Semitic languages and a PhD in biblical studies and Assyriology from Bar-Ilan University. Her PhD was devoted to editing the Sumerian composition 'Šulgi C', a self-laudatory royal hymn from the 21st century BCE, which she is preparing for publication.

Her recent presentations:

“From the Cattle Pen to the Horned Starry Sky ‒ Everyday Life of a Royal Metaphor”, in: ““Kings Born to Be Wild”: Current Research on Sumerian Royal Panegyrics” (workshop), the 70th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, (11.07.25, University of Prague).

“The Literary Palaces of Šulgi ‒ Unity of Idea and Form”, in: The 26th Annual Conference of the Israel Society for Assyriology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, (10.02.2025, University of Haifa).

“Mu BÀD.AN.KI ba-hul ‘The year Dēr was destroyed’: Šulgi’s 21^st regnal year”, in the 69th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, (12.07.24, University of Helsinki).