Wikipedia's first sentence called it “any structure upon which sacrifices or other offerings are offered for religious purposes”. Today it says “table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2010
Ancient Greek kylix showing a hoplite offering a sacrifice before an altar, around 480 BC. Ancient Agora Museum of Athens in the Stoa of Attalus The ancient Altar of Pergamon , reconstructed at the Pergamon museum, Berlin. It was used by the ancient Celts to make sacrifices upon and is now located in the plaza of the basilica there. Look up altar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.1An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and votive offerings are made for religious purposes , or some other sacred place where ceremonies take place. Altars are usually found at shrines , and they can be located in temples , churches and other places of worship.2Today they are used particularly in the religions of Buddhism , Hinduism , Shinto , Taoism , as well as Christianity , LaVeyan Satanism , Thelema , Neopaganism , and in Ceremonial magic .3Judaism did so until the destruction of the Second Temple .4Many historical faiths also made use of them, including Greek and Norse religion.5
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 370614717.
The opening as it stood in 2005
An ancient Roman altar An altar is any structure upon which sacrifices or other offerings are offered for religious purposes.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 17947905.
The opening as it stood in 2015 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Altar in Roskilde Cathedral dwarfed by a huge carved triptych An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and worship are made for religious purposes . Altars are usually found at shrines , and they can be located in temples , churches and other places of worship. Today they are used particularly in Christianity , Buddhism , Hinduism , Shinto , Taoism , as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic .Judaism used such a structure until the destruction of the Second Temple . Many historical faiths also made use of them, including Greek and Norse religion.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666031728.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes For other uses, see Altar (disambiguation) .Altar in Roskilde Cathedral dwarfed by a huge carved reredos An altar is a structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes .Altars are found at shrines , temples , churches and other places of worship.They are used particularly in Pagan , Christianity , Buddhism , Hinduism , Judaism (until the destruction of the Second Temple ), and Modern Paganism .Many historical faiths also made use of them, including Roman , Greek and Norse religion.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965098149.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes For other uses, see Altar (disambiguation) . Altar in Roskilde Cathedral beneath by a carved reredos An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings , for sacrifices , or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines , temples , churches , and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism , Christianity , Buddhism , Hinduism , Judaism , modern paganism , and in certain Islamic communities around Caucasia and Asia Minor .Many historical-medieval faiths also made use of them, including the Roman , Greek , and Norse religions.There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178060187.
The opening as it stood in 2025 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes For other uses, see Altar (disambiguation) . Altar in Roskilde Cathedral beneath by a carved reredos An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings , for sacrifices , or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines , temples , churches , and other places of worship. They are used particularly in Christianity , Buddhism , Hinduism , and modern paganism . Many historical-medieval faiths also made use of them, including the Roman , Greek , and Norse religions.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1294473362. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “any structure upon which sacrifices or other offerings are offered for religious purposes”. Today it says “table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
any structure upon which sacrifices or other offerings are offered for religious purposes
Now
table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
