Ehsan Shavarebi

Numismatist and Archaeologist, Curator at the Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

Vienna, Vienna, Austria

About

Ehsan Shavarebi studied archaeology, oriental studies, and numismatics in Tehran, Bamberg, and Vienna. He is currently Curator of Medieval and Oriental Coins at the Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Previously, he held research positions at the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the University of Vienna. Alongside his museum work, he has also participated in archaeological fieldwork in Iran, Tajikistan, and Pakistan. He has published extensively on numismatic, archaeological, historical, and philological subjects in English, German, Persian, French, and Russian. His work has appeared in leading scientific journals, encyclopaedias, and conference proceedings. His research focuses primarily on the coinage and monetary history of the ancient Iranian world, Central Asia, and northern India. His most recent monograph, A Numismatic History of Barikot, was published in 2025 by the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. He is also interested in Old and Middle Iranian philology and epigraphy, as well as classical Persian literature. In 2011, he published a critical edition of the collected poetic fragments of the tenth-century Persian poet Monjik Termezi. In 2022, he was awarded the Walter Hävernick Prize of the German Numismatic Commission in recognition of his research on the coin finds from Barikot. He has also received grants and fellowships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and the Royal Numismatic Society in London.

Experience

  • Curator at Kunsthistorisches Museum
    Jan 2026 - Present · 6 mos

  • Associate Research Fellow at University of Vienna
    Dec 2024 - Dec 2025 · 1 yr 1 mo

  • Associate Research Fellow at Kunsthistorisches Museum
    Jul 2021 - Oct 2024 · 3 yrs 4 mos

  • Visiting Research Fellow at Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
    Sep 2023 - Oct 2023 · 2 mos

  • Project Research Associate at Austrian Academy of Sciences
    Jul 2020 - Dec 2020 · 6 mos