Lidewijde de Jong received her M.A. in Mediterranean archaeology from the University of Amsterdam and a Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from Stanford University. Her research interests concentrate on the reconstruction of ancient imperialism from the perspective of local communities. She primarily focuses on funerary practices in the Roman Near East, but also works on the impact of Umayyad and Abbasid rule on settlement patterns in the Balikh Valley (Syria) and continuity in funerary ritual in Lebanon under the Hellenistic kings. At ISAW she will return to the Roman province of Syria and analyze modifications in funerary ritual as evidence for social change. Contextualizing the construction of a new group of conspicuous tombs, she addresses the use of funerary architecture to express changes in socio-economic, civic, gender, and kinship identities under Roman rule.