Wikipedia's first sentence called it “israeli engineer and laterly antiquities dealer”. Today it says “israeli engineer”.
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 2005
Oded Golan (b. 1951 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli engineer and laterly antiquities dealer.1Some of the artifacts he claims to have uncovered have produced great excitement in religious and archeological circles, and allegations of fraud and forgery.2The son of an engineer and a microbiologist, Golan served in the Israeli Defence Force before studying engineering at Technion . He later went on to work in a variety of high-technology roles, before founding his own informatics company. Golan also has a keen interest in archeology and antiquities. Golan and those working with him claim to have found a number of remarkable ancient artifacts, the discovery of which have excited great controversy. These include the Jehoash Inscription , an inscribed tablet detailing repairs done to the Temple of Solomon in the reign of King Jehoash , and (in 2002 ) the James Ossuary , an ossuary with an inscription which (if genuine) supports the historicity of Jesus . A number of scholars have questioned the authenticity of Golan's finds, with some deriding them as obvious forgeries. Following investigations by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israeli police announced in December 2004 that they intended to charge Golan with crimes including fraud and forgery. The documentary film The History Merchants covered investigations into Golan and the provenance of his finds. The film alleged Golan (working with a team of people, including an expert in ancient semitic languages and an artisan) had produced a number of forged artifacts for sale on the religious antiquities market. Oded Golan describes the film as "rumor", saying it contained no real evidence and was part of a "media circus". He claims the IAA and police investigation was mishandled and persecutory.3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17038051.
The opening as it stood in 2010 11 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Oded Golan ( ) (b. 1951 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli engineer , Israeli artifact collector, and currently on trial for forgery of antiquities .Some of the artifacts he has uncovered have produced great excitement in religious and archaeological circles, and have caused allegations of fraud and forgery.He was accused of faking the James Ossuary and other items in order to trap gullible collectors.In December 2004, he was indicted with four other defendants and accused of being at the center of an international antiquities forgery ring.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 361749082.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Oded Golan ( ) (b. 1951 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli engineer and artifact collector, who was placed on trial for forgery of antiquities . Some of the artifacts he has uncovered have produced great excitement in religious and archaeological circles, and have caused allegations of fraud and forgery. He was accused of faking the James Ossuary and other items in order to trap gullible collectors. In December 2004, he was indicted with four other defendants and accused of being at the center of an international antiquities forgery ring. Much interest was generated by this case, with a book written In 2012, he was acquitted of these charges.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666741626.
The opening as it stood in 2020 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Israeli engineer Oded Golan ( ) (born 1951 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli engineer , entrepreneur, and antiquities collector.He owns one of the largest collections of Biblical archaeology in the world.Some of the artifacts in his collection have produced great excitement in religious and archaeological circles, including the James Ossuary (the bone box of James, brother of Jesus ), which achieved international fame in 2002, after world-renowned experts confirmed the authenticity of the writing inscribed on it.Another famous item from Golan's collection is the Jehoash Tablet, a monumental 16-line commemorative inscription in ancient Hebrew.After its publication, the date of the Tablet became a topic of debate among scholars.Golan was accused by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) of involvement in the forgery of one half of the James Ossuary inscription, the Jehoash Inscription and other items.Golan denied any involvement in forgery, and argued that he purchased the two items from licensed antiquities dealers in 1976 and 1999 respectively, and to the best of his understanding, the inscriptions are ancient.Four other defendants were indicted along with Golan, including two of the largest antiquities dealers in Israel.In 2012, the court acquitted Golan of all charges of forgery and fraud, but convicted of illegal trading in antiquities.In late 2013, the Supreme Court ordered the State to return to Golan the James Ossuary, the Jehoash Inscription and hundreds of other items that had been confiscated by the IAA “for the purpose of investigation." Much interest was generated by this case, with several books written on the subject and several documentary films produced, including The Lost Tomb of Jesus .The New York Times .There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962287723.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 10 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Israeli engineer Oded Golan ( ) (born 1951 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli engineer , entrepreneur, and antiquities collector . He owns one of the largest collections of Biblical archaeology in the world.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1174326905.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Israeli engineer Oded Golan ( Hebrew : עודד גולן ; born 1951 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli engineer , entrepreneur, and antiquities collector . He owns one of the largest collections of Biblical archaeology in the world.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297159289. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “israeli engineer and laterly antiquities dealer”. Today it says “israeli engineer”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
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2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
israeli engineer and laterly antiquities dealer
Now
israeli engineer
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.
