This is a portion of one of the upper walls in the Temple of the Moon in Yeha, Tigray Region, northern Ethiopia.

At a glance, It can be difficult to tell the difference between original ancient construction and modern reconstructions using ancient building materials found at the site. I discovered this at Maya sites in the Yucatan near the Belizean border, and at the site of Tiwanaku in Bolivia, where ancient ruins have been extensively rebuilt, sometimes, arguably, at the expense of authenticity.

I am fascinated by the patterns these building blocks make.

I'd like to think each of them is standing where it was placed by a D'mt Kingdom stonemason over 2,500 years ago. Considering Yeha's remoteness, the scarcity of resources in that part of the world, and the organic way most of these blocks fit together (I'm not so sure about the top course), I'll go out on a limb and suggest what we're seeing here is original and undisturbed, or substantially so.