Current Project
Writing in Iranian Late Antiquity: Scribes, scribal practices, and performative aspects of the written word in the Sasanian Empire
Courses Taught
Introduction to Middle Persian
Biography
Olivia K. C. Ramble studied Classics at the University of Oxford, Wadham College, where she received her BA in 2011. Olivia completed her two-year Masters in Ancient Iranian Studies at the Ecole pratique des hautes études (EPHE, 2015–2017), under the supervision of Dr. Samra Azarnouche (EPHE) and Professor Philip Huyse (EPHE). Her Masters thesis looked at the formation of ‘sites of memory’ in ancient Iran with the reuse of Achaemenid sites like Naqš-e Rostam by the Sasanian dynasty, and tackled the thorny question of the early Sasanian kings’ memory of their Achaemenid ‘ancestors’. Olivia obtained her Masters with honours and was awarded a three-year full-time contract by the EPHE to pursue her research for a doctorate in Iranian Studies.
Olivia conducted her doctoral research (2017–2023) in the framework of a cotutelle between the EPHE and Leiden University, working under the supervision of Professors Philip Huyse (EPHE) and Albert de Jong (Leiden University) as well as the co-supervision of Professor Samra Azarnouche (EPHE). Her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Historiography and Palaeography of Sasanian Middle Persian inscriptions”, focuses on Sasanian history and historiography as well as Middle Persian epigraphy and palaeography. It investigates writing practices in early Sasanian Iran as reflected in the small corpus of Sasanian inscriptions and examines the rock-cut texts in their physical, historical and textual environment, with special attention to salient features of their palaeography. Olivia’s doctoral dissertation was awarded cum laude in June 2024 and received the Edward Zakarian Award from the Austrian Academy of Sciences in March 2025.
Educational Background
BA in Classics, University of Oxford, Wadham College
MA in Ancient Iranian Studies, Ecole pratique des hautes études
Doctoral cotutelle: EPHE and Leiden University
Research Interests
Olivia’s research interests include the history, languages and material culture of pre-Islamic Iran; the historiography of Iranian studies; the social history and economy of the late antique world; epigraphy and the anthropology of writing. Her publications have investigated Sasanian historiography, epigraphy, sigillography, history, economy and law. Olivia is currently engaged in the organisation of an international and transdisciplinary conference entitled “Professionals of Writing in Late Antiquity”, which proposes to bring together early career researchers working on different aspects of the late antique world (Sasanian Iran, Byzantium, Syria, Georgia, early Islam) and investigate the identity, socio-economic status and political roles of professionals of writing in late antiquity from a comparative perspective.
Recent Publications
Azarnouche, S. and O. Ramble, “La vision zoroastrienne, les yeux dans les yeux : commentaire sur la Dēn selon le Dēnkard III.225”, Revue de l’histoire des religions 237, 2020, pp. 331–395.
Ramble, O., “Kerdīr’s bun-xānag and funding foundations in Sasanian Iran”, Studia Iranica 51/2, 2022, pp. 163–203.
Ramble, O., “Stock formula or textual citation? The case of Kerdīr’s KKZ”, Kār-nāmāg ī Pārsa: Studies from the Persepolis World Heritage Site 1, 2024, pp. 183–206.
Ramble, O., “Generations of writing: the secondary inscriptions of Darius’ tacara at Persepolis”, in N. Kallas (ed.), Proceedings of the Broadening Horizons VI conference, Vol. 2, Berlin: ArcheoPress, 2025, pp. 38–52.
Ramble, O., “The European ‘rediscovery’ of the ancient Persians and their worldview: Literature, Travelogues, Art”, in A. de Jong, J. Rose and S. Stewart (eds), The Zoroastrian World, Routledge, (Forthcoming).
Ramble, O., “Between text and image: the case of Sasanian monogram seals”, in C. Ragzzoli and C. Roche-Hawley (eds), Performances of Writing, (Forthcoming).
Ramble, O., “Les secrets des bergers”, in B. Fraenkel and E. Ingrand Varenne (eds), Épigraphistes au travail, Écriture et image 6, (Forthcoming).
Ramble, O., “The Middle Persian heterographic writing system: a short historiography”, in A. de Jong (ed.), The Zoroastrian Priesthood, (Forthcoming).
Students
Sophia Miller
Shi Wang
