Coptic Lintels

Temple of Ramesses III (plan)
Medinet Habu, Egypt

These lintels are all that is left of a Coptic church that occupied Medinet Habu during Christian times, up to the 9th century AD. They are decorated with the typical Greek, equal-armed crosses. Two reflections may be pertinent here; the first, is that in any given area, it is likely that more than one religion has asserted supremacy but then, eventually, been superseded. The second, and more practical, consideration is that in the same area there are likely to be archaeological remains from hundreds, or even thousands, of years in the past, just waiting to be discovered, arranged in strata like a layer cake. How important is the past? How much is it ok to disrupt the present - villages and cities, homes and fields - to uncover it? And which past, of all the many stacked up on each other, is most important to preserve?