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How Wikipedia rewrote the Lachish letters article

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Wikipedia's first sentence called it "group of letters written in carbon ink in ancient hebrew on clay ostraca". Today it says "series of letters written in carbon ink containing ancient israelite inscriptions in ancient hebrew on clay ost". We saved the article's opening at 5 moments between 2010 and 2025, and every claim links the exact revision.

The opening as it read in 2010

Lachish Letters (Hoshaiah Letters) are a group of letters written in carbon ink in Ancient Hebrew on clay ostraca .¹ The individual ostracon probably come from the same broken clay pot and were most likely written in a short period of time. They were written to Joash, possibly the commanding officer at Lachish (modern Tell ed-Duweir), from Hoshaiah, a military officer stationed in a city close to Lachish (possibly Mareshah ). In the letters, Hoshaiah defends himself to Joash regarding a letter he either was or was not supposed to have read. The letters also contain informational reports and requests from Hoshaiah to his superior. The letters were probably written shortly before Lachish fell to the Babylonian army in 588/6 BC during the last years of Jeremiah and during the reign Zedekiah , king of Judah (ref.² The ostraca were discovered by J.L.³ Starkey in January-February, 1935 during the third campaign of the Wellcome excavations. They were published in 1938 by Harry Torczyner and have been much studied since then.⁴ They are currently located in the British Museum in London.

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 350870717.

The opening as it stood in 2015 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The Lachish Letters or Lachish Ostraka , sometimes called Hoshaiah Letters , are a series of letters written in carbon ink in Ancient Hebrew on clay ostraca . The letters were discovered at the excavations at Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir). The ostraka were discovered by James Leslie Starkey in January–February, 1935 during the third campaign of the Wellcome excavations. They were published in 1938 by Harry Torczyner (name later changed to Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai ) and have been much studied since then. Seventeen of them are currently located in the British Museum in London, a smaller number (including Letter 6) are on permanent display at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem , Israel .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667757209.

The opening as it stood in 2020

The Lachish Letters or Lachish Ostraca , sometimes called Hoshaiah Letters , are a series of letters written in carbon ink in Ancient Hebrew on clay ostraca . The letters were discovered at the excavations at Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir). The ostraca were discovered by James Leslie Starkey in January–February, 1935 during the third campaign of the Wellcome excavations. They were published in 1938 by Harry Torczyner (name later changed to Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai ) and have been much studied since then. Seventeen of them are currently located in the British Museum in London, a smaller number (including Letter 6) are on permanent display at the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem . The primary inscriptions are known as KAI 192-199. British Museum Collection "Lakhish Ostraca, c. 587 BCE" .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 958502056.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023

Late Biblical Hebrew (c. 590 BCE) inscriptions on clay sherds The Lachish Letters or Lachish Ostraca , sometimes called Hoshaiah Letters , are a series of letters written in carbon ink containing ancient Israelite inscriptions in Ancient Hebrew on clay ostraca . The letters were discovered at the excavations at Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir). The ostraca were discovered by British archaeologist James Leslie Starkey in January–February 1935, during the third campaign of the Wellcome excavations. They were published in 1938 by Professor Harry Torczyner (name later changed to Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai ) and have been much studied since then. Seventeen of them are currently located in the British Museum in London, a smaller number (including Letter 6) are on permanent display at the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem . The primary inscriptions are known as KAI 192–199. British Museum Collection "Lakhish Ostraca, c. 587 BCE" .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1173303506.

The opening as it stood in 2025

Late Biblical Hebrew (c. 590 BCE) inscriptions on clay sherds The Lachish Letters are a series of letters written in carbon ink containing ancient Israelite inscriptions in Ancient Hebrew on clay ostraca . The letters were discovered at the excavations at Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir). The ostraca were discovered by British archaeologist James Leslie Starkey in January–February 1935, during the third campaign of the Wellcome excavations. They were published in 1938 by Professor Harry Torczyner (name later changed to Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai ) and have been much studied since then. Seventeen of them are currently located in the British Museum in London; a smaller number (including Letter 6) are on permanent display at the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem . The primary inscriptions are known as KAI 192–199. British Museum Collection "Lakhish Ostraca, c. 587 BCE" .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292175523. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.

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