assisted in averting the degradation of the graves. The madrasa functioned as a religious school, one that saw gaining religious knowledge as a good moral action in the eyes of Ayyubid teaching traditions. An inscription carved into the side of the al-Firdraws Madrasa translates as,”this is what has ordered its construction: the elevated curtain and impregnable veil, the merciful queen…Dayfa Khatun, daughter of the sultan al-Malik al-Aldil…" .This inscription uses some of the earliest feminine honorifics and royal epithets known, further solidifying Khatun’s power as a queen and a prominent female patron. Legacy Despite the significance of these structures to the city of Aleppo during her reign, they were outside of the citadel walls. To be the patron of a monument inside the citadel indicated one’s extreme importance to the royal family. Toghril was the atabek of Muhammad, and the chosen successor of al-Zahir until Muhammad was of ruling age. His value to the royal family is represented in an intramural madrasa he commissioned. However, hardly any female patron had her buildings erected in the citadel, not even Dayfa. Contemporaries Safwat al-Mulk Safwat al-Mulk was a Seljuk princess who most notably created a funerary cupola for her and her son in the early 12th century. This cupola was part of a larger compound west of Damascus that housed a mosque and Sufi hospice. Much like Dayfa Khatun, Safwat al-Mulk’s patronage centered around religion and Sufism, as was the norm for women patrons of the day. Zumurrud Khatun Zumurrud Khatun was a former slave that rose to prominence due to her marriage to al-Mustadī. Zumurrud Khatun was equally active in politics and patronage compared to Dayfa Khatun, as Zumurrud sponsored many madrasas, ribats, and mosques during her life. One of her main works, the Madrasa Khatuniyya, was built in 1132 west of Damascus, in a close proximity to Safwat al-Mulk’s own contributions to the architectural landscape of Damascus. This madrasa was only the fifth madrasa ever built in Damascus, showing that important architectural projects were not relegated away from women patrons. Death Khatun died in 1242 (640) and the leading figure in the regency thereafter was Shams al-Din Lu'lu' until her grandson An-Nasir Yusuf began to rule independently. Female patrons and leaders were revered and respected during the time of Khatun; for example, after Zumurrud Khatun’s death mourning continued for an entire year. Her possessions were carefully distributed, and many elegies