Did Wikipedia remove the word "" from the Cairo Geniza article?

Yes. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it "accumulation of jewish manuscripts written from about 870 to as late as 1880 ce". Today it says "collection of some 400". We saved the article's opening paragraph at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

When did the Cairo Geniza article stop using the word ""?

The word appeared 0 times in the opening at its peak in 2005. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-02.

How can I verify what Wikipedia's Cairo Geniza article used to say?

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What did Wikipedia remove from the Cairo Geniza article?

The opening as it read in 2005

Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of Jewish manuscripts written from about 870 to as late as 1880 CE, that were found in the geniza of the synagogue of Fustat (Old Cairo), Egypt (built 882), the Busatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and a number of old documents that were bought in Cairo in the later 19th century that are now archived in various American and European libraries. The Taylor-Schechter collection in the University of Cambridge runs to 140,000 manuscripts; there are a further 40,000 fragments at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. The importance of these materials for reconstructing the social and economic history for the period between 950 and 1250 cannot be overemphasized; the index the scholar G.D. Goitein created covers about 35,000 individuals, which included about 350 "prominent people" (which include Maimonides and his son Abraham), 200 "better known families", and mentions of 450 professions and 450 goods. He identified material from Egypt , Palestine , Lebanon , Syria (but not Damascus or Aleppo), Tunisia , Sicily , and even covering trade with India . Cities mentioned range from Samarkand in Central Asia to Seville and Sijilmasa , Morocco to the west; from Aden north to Constantinople ; Europe not only is represented by the Mediterranean port cities of Narbonne , Marseilles , Genoa and Venice , but even Kiev and Rouen are occasionally mentioned. As proof that their creators were integrated in their contemporary society (and not isolated in a ghetto like later European Jews), many of these documents were written in Arabic in Hebrew characters. As evidence for how colloquial Arabic of this period was spoken and understood alone, these documents are invaluable. Goitein demonstrates that they were part of their contemporary society time and again: they practiced the same trades as their Muslim and Christian neighbors, including farming; they bought from and sold to, and rented from and rented to their contemporaries. The light this material casts on the period of the Fatimid and Ayyubid rulers extends beyond the world of their authors. These materials include a vast number of books, most of them fragments, which Goitein estimated to number 250,000 leaves; these include parts of Jewish religious writings, as well as fragments from the Qur'an . The non-literary materials, which include court documents, legal writings and the correspondence of the local Jewish community, are somewhat smaller, but still impressive: Goitein estimated their size at "about 10,000 items of some length, of which 7,000 are self-contained units large enough to be regarded as documents of historical value. Only half of these are preserved more or less completely." To put this in prespective, Jacob Lassner furnished the estimate that all of the Arabic papyri and other writing found in Egypt number less than 100,000.¹

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16432158.

The opening as it stood in 2010 12 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of almost 280,000 Jewish manuscript fragments that were found in the genizah or store room of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat , presently Old Cairo , Egypt , the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and a number of old documents that were bought in Cairo in the later 19th century. It is dispersed among a number of libraries including the university libraries of Cambridge and Manchester.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 356773647.

The opening as it stood in 2015

30°00′21″N 31°13′52″E  /  30.0057944°N 31.2310222°E  / 30.0057944; 31.2310222 A document with Babylonian vocalization The Cairo Genizah , alternatively spelled Geniza, is a collection of some 300,000 Jewish manuscript fragments that were found in the genizah or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo , Egypt . These manuscripts outline a 1,000-year continuum (870 CE to 19th century) of Jewish Middle-Eastern and North African history and comprise the largest and most diverse collection of medieval manuscripts in the world. The Genizah texts are written in various languages, especially Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic , mainly on vellum and paper, but also on papyrus and cloth. In addition to containing Jewish religious texts such as Biblical, Talmudic and later Rabbinic works (some in the original hands of the authors), the Genizah gives a detailed picture of the economic and cultural life of the North African and Eastern Mediterranean regions, especially during the 10th to 13th centuries. It is now dispersed among a number of libraries, including the libraries of Cambridge University and the University of Manchester . Some additional fragments were found in the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and the collection includes a number of old documents bought in Cairo in the latter nineteenth century. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza . 6 vols.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 658977268.

The opening as it stood in 2020

30°00′21″N 31°13′52″E  /  30.0058°N 31.2310°E  / 30.0058; 31.2310 A document with Babylonian vocalization The Cairo Geniza , alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were found in the genizah or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo , Egypt . These manuscripts outline a 1,000-year continuum (870 CE to 19th century) of Jewish Middle-Eastern and North African history and comprise the largest and most diverse collection of medieval manuscripts in the world. The Genizah texts are written in various languages, especially Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic , mainly on vellum and paper, but also on papyrus and cloth. In addition to containing Jewish religious texts such as Biblical, Talmudic and later Rabbinic works (some in the original hands of the authors), the Genizah gives a detailed picture of the economic and cultural life of the North African and Eastern Mediterranean regions, especially during the 10th to 13th centuries. It is now dispersed among a number of libraries, including the libraries of Cambridge University and the University of Manchester . Some additional fragments were found in the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and the collection includes a number of old documents bought in Cairo in the latter nineteenth century. "There is no universally agreed-on methodology for counting Cairo Geniza fragments....Nonetheless, four hundred thousand is the best count we currently have." Goitein, Shelomo Dov . A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza . 6 vols.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 950205661.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Collection of Jewish manuscript fragments 30°00′21″N 31°13′52″E  /  30.0058°N 31.2310°E  / 30.0058; 31.2310 A document with Babylonian vocalization The Cairo Geniza , alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the genizah or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo , Egypt . These manuscripts span the entire period of Middle-Eastern, North African, and Andalusian Jewish history between the 6th and 19th centuries CE, and comprise the largest and most diverse collection of medieval manuscripts in the world. The Genizah texts are written in various languages, especially Hebrew , Arabic , and Aramaic , mainly on vellum and paper, but also on papyrus and cloth. In addition to containing Jewish religious texts such as Biblical , Talmudic , and later Rabbinic works (some in the original hands of the authors), the Genizah gives a detailed picture of the economic and cultural life of the Mediterranean region, especially during the 10th to 13th centuries. Manuscripts from the Cairo Geniza are now dispersed among a number of libraries, including the Cambridge University Library , the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the John Rylands Library , the Bodleian Library , the University of Pennsylvania 's Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies , the British Library , the Hungarian Academy of Sciences , the National Library of Russia , Alliance Israélite Universelle , the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library at the University of Haifa and multiple private collections around the world. Most fragments come from the geniza chamber of the Ben Ezra Synagogue, but additional fragments were found at excavation sites near the synagogue and in the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo. Modern Cairo Geniza manuscript collections include some old documents that collectors bought in Egypt in the latter half of the nineteenth century. "There is no universally agreed-on methodology for counting Cairo Geniza fragments....Nonetheless, four hundred thousand is the best count we currently have." Dospel, Marek (June 1, 2022). Fragments of the Books of Kings, According to the Translation of Aquila from a MS formerly in the Geniza at Cairo . From the style of the writing the MS must be dated in the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century AD. A Material Survey of Egyptian Jewish Literary Culture" . The following is a survey of fifty-seven manuscripts and printed texts dated after 1864, comprising more than one hundred discrete classmarks (i.e., individual fragments or small groups of fragments with a single cataloguing number) from Genizah collections. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza . The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt . Studies in Judaism: Second Series . A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza . 6 vols.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178904311.

The opening as it stood in 2025

Collection of Jewish manuscript fragments The Cairo Geniza , alternatively spelled the Cairo Genizah , is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the genizah or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo , Egypt . These manuscripts span the entire period of Middle-Eastern, North African, and Andalusian Jewish history between the 6th and 19th centuries CE, and comprise the largest and most diverse collection of medieval manuscripts in the world. The Genizah texts are written in various languages, especially Hebrew , Arabic , and Aramaic , mainly on vellum and paper, but also on papyrus and cloth. In addition to containing Jewish religious texts such as Biblical , Talmudic , and later Rabbinic works (some in the original hands of the authors), the Genizah gives a detailed picture of the economic and cultural life of the Mediterranean region, especially during the 10th to 13th centuries. Manuscripts from the Cairo Geniza are now dispersed among a number of libraries, including the Cambridge University Library , the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the John Rylands Library , the Bodleian Library , the University of Pennsylvania 's Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies , the British Library , the Hungarian Academy of Sciences , the National Library of Russia , Alliance Israélite Universelle , the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library at the University of Haifa and multiple private collections around the world. Most fragments come from the geniza chamber of the Ben Ezra Synagogue, but additional fragments were found at excavation sites near the synagogue and in the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo. Modern Cairo Geniza manuscript collections include some old documents that collectors bought in Egypt in the latter half of the nineteenth century. "There is no universally agreed-on methodology for counting Cairo Geniza fragments....Nonetheless, four hundred thousand is the best count we currently have." Dospel, Marek (June 1, 2022). Fragments of the Books of Kings, According to the Translation of Aquila from a MS formerly in the Geniza at Cairo . From the style of the writing the MS must be dated in the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century AD. A Material Survey of Egyptian Jewish Literary Culture" . The following is a survey of fifty-seven manuscripts and printed texts dated after 1864, comprising more than one hundred discrete classmarks (i.e., individual fragments or small groups of fragments with a single cataloguing number) from Genizah collections. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza . The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt . Studies in Judaism: Second Series . A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza . 6 vols.

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