geison
In Greek and Greco-Roman architecture, the projection from the face of a wall of the coping or eaves; especially the broad shelf in front of the tympanum of a pediment and formed by the top of the cornice of the entablature below. The triangular panel may be flush with the face of the architrave of this lower entablature, or may be set farther in, making the recess for the statuary or the like so much deeper and increasing the width of the geison. In the Parthenon at Athens this projection, or the width of the geison, is nearly three feet. The term is often extended so as to imply the mass of cut stone itself which projects and forms the cornice of the horizontal entablature. Photo from Wikipedia. (Jones, 1992)