Lintel with Relief Decoration

Among the ruins of Faras many stone elements of architecture were found, including this door lintel manufactured in the second half of the sixth century AD. It was found outside the cathedral and verified to have originated from another church in Faras. The relief decoration combines Christian symbolism with motifs characteristic for Egyptian beliefs. The central stylized lotus flowers were a symbol of immortality in pharaonic times. On the sides, two crosses were sculpted with widening, almost triangular arms, resembling the Maltese cross. The symbols on the extreme ends of the lintel are especially interesting – the crosses crowned with a circular loop, echoing the shape of the pharaonic hieroglyph ankh.
Pharaonic cults still played a significant role in the religious life of Egyptians in the fourth century AD, while its meanings and connotations, so strongly rooted in the mentality of local people, were subject to gradual Christianization. Some pagan depictions and symbols, like ankh – the hieroglyph meaning ‘life’, were given new, Christian content. Egyptian Christians considered it ‘a sign of life to come’ and a peculiar form of the cross. They only altered the shape of the oval loop of the hieroglyph replacing it with a circular shape. The crux ansata became a popular symbol of eternal life placed on tombs, textiles and pages of manuscripts. Often, it was accompanied by the Greek letters alpha and omega denoting Christ, with depictions of leafy branches alluding to Him being the Tree of Life, depictions of birds symbolizing human souls, or with smaller crosses inside the loop.