Savannah Sandage graduated in 2025 with a BA in economics and a BA in world languages and cultures from Arkansas State University. Her academic interests lie at the intersection of ancient myth, political authority, and economic systems in the ancient Near East. Before receiving the Fulbright award, Savannah completed an undergraduate honors thesis titled Divine Order and Economic Authority: The Rhetorical Power of Enuma Elish in Structuring Neo-Babylonian Society. Her research drew on rhetorical theory, temple inscriptions, and economic records to explore how the Enuma Elish myth reinforced royal legitimacy and temple-based economies in the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

Savannah has been awarded a Fulbright fellowship to pursue an MA in archaeology and the Ancient Near East at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She plans to deepen her study of ancient Near Eastern literature and explore how ancient writing systems shaped economic and political life in the region.