Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient jewish kingdom of the beta israel people”. Today it says “semi-legendary jewish kingdom said to have been located in the northwestern part of the ethiopian empire”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Establishment; Wars and collapse; Legendary heads of a Gideonite dynasty”.
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 2025 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 2025
Kingdom of Beta Israel in the Ethiopian Empire Today part of Ethiopia The Kingdom of Simien ( Hebrew : ממלכת סאמיאן ), also known as the Kingdom of Beta Israel ( ממלכת ביתא ישראל ), also referred to as "Land of the Gideons" by Rabbi Abraham ben Eliezer Halevi in the 14th century named after the dynasty's first ruler. This refers to a semi-legendary Jewish kingdom said to have been located in the northwestern part of the Ethiopian Empire . The existence of such a kingdom somewhere in the Horn of Africa was first mentioned by the traveller Benjamin of Tudela in the 12th century CE. A late Ethiopian-Jewish legend dates the establishment of a Kingdom of Simien to the 4th century CE, right after the Kingdom of Aksum turned to Christianity during the reign of Ezana . Local history holds that, around 960, a Jewish Queen named Gudit defeated the empire and burned its churches and literature. While there is evidence of churches being burned and an invasion around this time, her existence has been questioned by some western authors, and it is unclear whether Aksum continued to exist. According to tradition, she reigned for forty years and her dynasty lasted until 1137 AD, when it was either overthrown or conquered by Mara Takla Haymanot , resulting in the inception of the Agaw -led Zagwe dynasty . In 1329, during Amda Seyon I 's conquests, he campaigned in the northern provinces of Semien , Wegera , Tselemt , and Tsegede , in which many had been converting to Judaism and where the Beta Israel had been gaining prominence. The existence of such a nation plays a significant role in the modern traditions of the Beta Israel . Histoire de L'Éthiopie (Nubie et Abyssinie): Histoire de L'Abyssinie . Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1296203969.
The opening as it stood in 2015
The Kingdom of Semien ( ), sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Beta Israel ( ), was an ancient Jewish kingdom of the Beta Israel people, centered in north western part of the Ethiopian kingdom of Abyssinia , which came to an end in 1627 during the reign of emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia . There is a disagreement regarding the exact time of the establishment of the kingdom; it was preceded by a number of regions which were in Jewish rule in the north-west part of Ethiopia . The Jewish-Ethiopian tradition dates the establishment of the Kingdom of Semien to the 4th century, right after the kingdom of Axum turned to Christianity during the reign of Emperor Ezana .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 643362393.
The opening as it stood in 2020
The Kingdom of Semien ( ), sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Beta Israel ( ), was an ancient kingdom of the Beta Israel centered in the northwestern part of the Ethiopian Empire that came to an end in 1627 during the reign of emperor Susenyos I . It was preceded by a number of regions which were in Jewish rule in the north-west part of Ethiopia . The Jewish-Ethiopian tradition dates the establishment of the Kingdom of Semien to the fourth century, right after the kingdom of Axum turned to Christianity during the reign of Ezana of Axum .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963216293.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Kingdom of Beta Israel in the Ethiopian Empire Today part of Ethiopia The Kingdom of Simien ( ), sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Beta Israel ( ), refers to a probably legendary Jewish kingdom said to have been located in the northwestern part of the Ethiopian Empire .The existence of such a kingdom somewhere in the Horn of Africa was first mentioned by the traveller Benjamin of Tudela in the 12th century CE.A late Ethiopian-Jewish legend dates the establishment of a Kingdom of Simien to the 4th century CE, right after the Kingdom of Aksum turned to Christianity during the reign of Ezana .The existence of such a nation plays a significant role in the modern traditions of the Beta Israel .Histoire de L'Éthiopie (Nubie et Abyssinie): Histoire de L'Abyssinie .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177033044.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient jewish kingdom of the beta israel people”. Today it says “semi-legendary jewish kingdom said to have been located in the northwestern part of the ethiopian empire”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Establishment; Wars and collapse; Legendary heads of a Gideonite dynasty”. Read the current article and compare.
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 2015, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
ancient jewish kingdom of the beta israel people
Now
semi-legendary jewish kingdom said to have been located in the northwestern part of the ethiopian empire
Sections that no longer exist
Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 3 sections of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 2,191 characters shorter.
Establishment
Wars and collapse
Legendary heads of a Gideonite dynasty
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.
