Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient basilica constructed by herod the great during his renovation of the temple mount at the end of the 1st”. Today it says “ancient basilica constructed by herod the great during his renovation of the temple mount at the end of the fir”.
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 October 6, 2023 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 October 6, 2023
Royal Stoa ( ; also known as the Royal Colonnade , Royal Portico , Royal Cloisters , Royal Basilica or Stoa Basileia ) was an ancient basilica constructed by Herod the Great during his renovation of the Temple Mount at the end of the first century BCE. Probably Herod's most magnificent secular construction, the three-aisled structure was described by Josephus as deserving "to be mentioned better than any other under the sun." A center of public and commercial activity, the Royal Stoa was the likely location of Jesus ' cleansing of the Temple recounted in the New Testament .1 The Royal Stoa overlooked Jerusalem's residential and commercial quarters, and at its southwestern corner was the place from which a ram's horn was blown to announce the start of holy days. The Royal Stoa was destroyed by the Roman army during the sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Its site is currently inaccessible to archaeologists since it is occupied by the Al-Aqsa Mosque . However, artifacts from the Stoa have been recovered both from excavations at the foot of the platform and in secondary use in later constructions. This evidence has confirmed details given in the accounts of the historian Josephus, and has also allowed comparison of the Royal Stoa's decoration with that used in other, contemporaneous monumental buildings.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1176012068.
The opening as it stood in 2015
The Royal Stoa ( , also known as the Royal Colonnade , Royal Portico , Royal Cloisters , Royal Basilica or Stoa Basileia ) was an ancient basilica constructed by Herod the Great during his renovation of the Temple Mount at the end of the 1st century BCE. Probably Herod's most magnificent secular construction, the three-aisled structure was described by Josephus as deserving "to be mentioned better than any other under the sun." A center of public and commercial activity, the Royal Stoa was the likely location of Jesus ' Cleansing of the Temple . The Royal Stoa overlooked Jerusalem's residential and commercial quarters, and at its southwestern corner was the place from which a ram's horn was blown to announce the start of holy days. The Royal Stoa was destroyed by the Roman army during the sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Its site on the Temple Mount esplanade is currently inaccessible to archaeologists. However, artifacts from the Stoa have been recovered both from excavations at the foot of the platform and in secondary use in later constructions. This evidence has confirmed details given in the accounts of the historian Josephus, and has also allowed comparison of the Royal Stoa's decoration with that used in other, contemporaneous monumental buildings.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 665388102.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Ancient basilica constructed by Herod the Great The Royal Stoa ( ; also known as the Royal Colonnade , Royal Portico , Royal Cloisters , Royal Basilica or Stoa Basileia ) was an ancient basilica constructed by Herod the Great during his renovation of the Temple Mount at the end of the 1st century BCE. Probably Herod's most magnificent secular construction, the three-aisled structure was described by Josephus as deserving "to be mentioned better than any other under the sun." A center of public and commercial activity, the Royal Stoa was the likely location of Jesus ' Cleansing of the Temple . The Royal Stoa overlooked Jerusalem's residential and commercial quarters, and at its southwestern corner was the place from which a ram's horn was blown to announce the start of holy days. The Royal Stoa was destroyed by the Roman army during the sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Its site on the Temple Mount esplanade is currently inaccessible to archaeologists. However, artifacts from the Stoa have been recovered both from excavations at the foot of the platform and in secondary use in later constructions. This evidence has confirmed details given in the accounts of the historian Josephus, and has also allowed comparison of the Royal Stoa's decoration with that used in other, contemporaneous monumental buildings.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 956535694.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Ancient basilica constructed by Herod the Great The Royal Stoa ( Hebrew : הסטיו המלכותי , romanized : Ha-stav ha-Malkhuti ; also known as the Royal Colonnade , Royal Portico , Royal Cloisters , Royal Basilica or Stoa Basileia ) was an ancient basilica constructed by Herod the Great during his renovation of the Temple Mount at the end of the first century BCE. Probably Herod's most magnificent secular construction, the three-aisled structure was described by Josephus as deserving "to be mentioned better than any other under the sun." The Royal Stoa overlooked Jerusalem's residential and commercial quarters, and at its southwestern corner was the place from which a ram's horn was blown to announce the start of holy days. The Royal Stoa was destroyed by the Roman army during the sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Its site is currently inaccessible to archaeologists since it is occupied by the Al-Aqsa Mosque . However, artifacts from the Stoa have been recovered both from excavations at the foot of the platform and in secondary use in later constructions. This evidence has confirmed details given in the accounts of the historian Josephus, and has also allowed comparison of the Royal Stoa's decoration with that used in other, contemporaneous monumental buildings.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1258655720. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient basilica constructed by herod the great during his renovation of the temple mount at the end of the 1st”. Today it says “ancient basilica constructed by herod the great during his renovation of the temple mount at the end of the fir”. 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 basilica constructed by herod the great during his renovation of the temple mount at the end of the 1st
Now
ancient basilica constructed by herod the great during his renovation of the temple mount at the end of the fir
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.
