Lintel

In architecture, a horizontal beam of any material spanning an opening, usually between two walls or posts.Examples: Egypt, 1878-1843 BCE (12th Dynasty), Lintel of Sesostris III, Medamoud Temple, limestone bas-relief, 1.065 x 2.21 m, Louvre. Although lintels are usually treated as merely functional, and often hidden, they are occasionally emphasized, as this one was. See rectangle.France, Christ in Majesty, lintel at the church of Saint-G?nis-des-Fontaines, 1019-1020, Romanesque, carved stone.