Throughout Yemen's history, royal women's piety expressed itself in the patronage of mosques and other religious foundations, such as madrasas and khānqāhs (Sufi hostels). The Great Mosque, built by the Ṣulayḥid ruler al-Sayyida al-Ḥurra bint Aḥmad (r. 477–532/1084–1138) in her capital Jiblah, is the earliest known surviving mosque built by a woman patron. The queen's stature and importance is reflected in the presence of her tomb inside the mosque, in the northwest side of the prayer hall, rather than in a separate tomb chamber. Although many monuments are no longer …