Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient university in the fatimid caliphate”. Today it says “medieval egyptian university built in cairo”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Ancient university of the Fatimid Caliphate”. It now reads “Ancient university in Egypt”.
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.
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The opening as it read in 2015
House Of Wisdom ( , Dar al-Hikmah) or House of Knowledge ( , Dar al-'Ilm) was an ancient university of the Fatimid Caliphate (today's Egypt ), built in 1004 CE as a library and converted by the Fatimid Imam-Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah to a state university in the same year.1The library’s collection was so vast that historian, Ibn Abi Tayyi’ described it as a “Wonder of the world”.2Another historian Ahmed Bin Ali Maqrizi says "The House of Wisdom in Cairo did not open its doors to the public except before the furnishing, decoration and beautification of all the doors and corridors, and a large number of servants were appointed. And the number of shelves in forty cabinets, each one of them could accommodate about eighteen thousand books. And (the shelves) were open, and books accessible to everyone. And one who wants a book, then the book can be easily found by him.3If a book cannot be found by oneself, one can seek the help of hired handlers." In keeping with the Islamic tradition of knowledge, the Fatimids collected books on a variety of subjects and their libraries attracted the attention of scholars from across the world.4 The Imam-Caliph al-Hakim was a great patron of learning and provided paper, pens, ink and inkstands without charge to all those who wished to study there. The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 92. The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: a History of Survival, a Search for Salvation (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 92.5
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 637147540.
The opening as it stood in 2010
The House of Knowledge ( , Dar Al-Hekma ) was an ancient university in the Fatimid Caliphate (today's Egypt ), built in 1004 as a library until the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah converted it to a university for the state in the same year.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 345821469.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Also, House of Wisdom ( ) or House of Knowledge ( ) was an ancient university of the Fatimid Caliphate (today's Egypt ), built in 1004 CE as a library and converted by the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah to a state university in the same year. The library's collection was so vast that historian, Ibn Abi Tayyi’ described it as a "Wonder of the world". Historian Ahmed Bin Ali Maqrizi says "The House of Wisdom in Cairo did not open its doors to the public except before the furnishing, decoration and beautification of all the doors and corridors, and many servants were appointed. And the number of shelves in forty cabinets, each one of them could accommodate about eighteen thousand books. And (the shelves) were open, and books accessible to everyone. And one who wants a book, then the book can be easily found by him. If a book cannot be found by oneself, one can seek the help of hired handlers." In keeping with the Islamic tradition of knowledge, the Fatimids collected books on a variety of subjects and their libraries attracted the attention of scholars from across the world. The Imam-Caliph al-Hakim was a great patron of learning and provided paper, pens, ink and inkstands without charge to all those who wished to study there.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 924857726.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Ancient university of the Fatimid Caliphate This article is about the Fatimid medieval university in Egypt . The House of Knowledge ( ) was an ancient university of the Fatimid Caliphate (today's Egypt ), built in 1004 CE as a library and converted by the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah to a state university in the same year. The 15th-century historian al-Maqrizi records that "The House of Wisdom in Cairo did not open its doors to the public except before the furnishing, decoration and beautification of all the doors and corridors, and many servants were appointed. And the number of shelves in forty cabinets, each one of them could accommodate about eighteen thousand books. And (the shelves) were open, and books accessible to everyone. And one who wants a book, then the book can be easily found by him. If a book cannot be found by oneself, one can seek the help of hired handlers." In keeping with the Islamic tradition of knowledge, the Fatimids collected books on a variety of subjects and their libraries attracted the attention of scholars from around the world. The Imam-Caliph al-Hakim was a great patron of learning and provided paper, pens, ink and inkstands without charge to all those who wished to study there.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1132057674.
The opening as it stood in 2025 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Ancient university of the Fatimid Caliphate This article is about the Fatimid medieval university in Egypt . The House of Knowledge ( Arabic : دار العلم , romanized : Dār al-ʿIlm ) was a medieval university built by the Fatimid Caliphate in Cairo in 1004 CE.Originally a library, the House of Knowledge was converted to a state university by the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in the same year. In keeping with the Islamic tradition of knowledge, the Fatimids collected books on a variety of subjects and their libraries attracted the attention of scholars from around the world. al-Hakim was a great patron of learning and provided paper, pens, ink and inkstands without charge to all those who wished to study there.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296674906. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient university in the fatimid caliphate”. Today it says “medieval egyptian university built in cairo”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Ancient university of the Fatimid Caliphate”. It now reads “Ancient university in Egypt”. Read the current article and compare.
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 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
ancient university in the fatimid caliphate
Now
medieval egyptian university built in cairo
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.
