Wikipedia's first sentence called it “antiquity site in israel 's southern lowlands”. Today it says “iron age city mentioned in the hebrew bible”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Archaeological site in southern Israel Tel”. It now reads “Archaeological site in southern Israel”.
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
Maresha was an Iron Age city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible , whose remains have been excavated at Tell Sandahanna (Arabic name), an archaeological mound or 'tell' renamed after its identification to Tel Maresha ( Hebrew : תל מראשה ). The ancient Judahite city became Idumaean after the fall of Judah in 586 BCE , and after Alexander 's conquest of the region in 332 BCE became Hellenised under the name Marisa or Marissa . The tell is situated in Israel 's Shephelah region, i.e. in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains , about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) south of Beit Gubrin . Excavations revealed that Maresha was inhabited (not necessarily continuously) during the Iron Age , the Persian period, and the Hellenistic period . The Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus seized Maresha in 113/112 BCE, leading to its decline and eventual desertion. The city faced its ultimate destruction at the hands of the Parthians in 40 BCE. Maresha was first excavated in 1898–1900 by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund and again after 1989 by Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority . Most of the artifacts of the British excavation are to be found today in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums . This site is now protected as part of Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park and its burial caves are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site . Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land . Maresha (Marissa is the Greek form of the Hebrew name) Kloner, Amos ; Stern, Ian (2007). Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E . "Sidonians at Marisa (Maresha)" . 'Atiqot / עתיקות . 110 : 65– 82. "Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Judean Lowlands as a Microcosm of the Land of the Caves" .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1294579358.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Maresha cave Tel Maresha ( ), also Marissa , is an antiquity site in Israel 's southern lowlands . The tel was first excavated by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund . The majority of the artifacts are to be found today in the Museum of Archaeology in Istanbul .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 362059608.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The tel was first excavated by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund . The majority of the artifacts are to be found today in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums .This site is now protected as part of Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 661877174.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Tel Maresha ( ) is the tell (archaeological mound) of the biblical Iron Age city of Maresha , and of the subsequent, post-586 BCE Idumean city known by its Hellenised name Marisa , Arabised as Marissa (ماريسا).The tell is situated in Israel 's Shephelah region, i.e. in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains .It was first excavated in 1898-1900 by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund and again after 1989 by Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority .The majority of the artifacts of the British excavation are to be found today in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums . This site is now protected as part of Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 960213698.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Archaeological site in southern Israel Tel Maresha ( ) is the tell (archaeological mound) of the biblical Iron Age city of Maresha , and of the subsequent, post-586 BCE Idumean city known by its Hellenised name Marisa , Arabised as Marissa (ماريسا). The tell is situated in Israel 's Shephelah region, i.e. in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains , about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) southeast of Beit Gubrin. Maresha was first excavated in 1898–1900 by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund and again after 1989 by Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority . Excavations revealed that Maresha was inhabited (not necessarily continuously) during the Iron Age , the Persian period, and the Hellenistic period . Most of the artifacts of the British excavation are to be found today in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums . This site is now protected as part of Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park and its burial caves are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site .Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land .Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E ."Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Judean Lowlands as a Microcosm of the Land of the Caves" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1161909279.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “antiquity site in israel 's southern lowlands”. Today it says “iron age city mentioned in the hebrew bible”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Archaeological site in southern Israel Tel”. It now reads “Archaeological site in southern Israel”. 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
antiquity site in israel 's southern lowlands
Now
iron age city mentioned in the hebrew bible
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.
