Chop the olives. Crush thyme with the salt in a mortar. Mix the flour with the olives and the mixture of thyme and salt. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water. Gradually stir the water and olive oil into the flour. Knead vigorously and cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Knead the dough again and pour it into the soaked and greased (also grease the lid!) Römertopf. Brush the surface of the dough with a little melted butter or olive oil. Close the lid, let the dough rise for another 30 minutes in a warm place.
Cover and bake in the oven at 200 ° C (fan oven 180 ° C) for 50 minutes, remove the lid in the last 10 minutes. Do not preheat the oven!