In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient roman-era town that appears to have been or to have become jewish in antiquity”. Today it says “former ancient jewish synagogue and archaeological site”.
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 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient roman-era town that appears to have been or to have become jewish in antiquity”. Today it says “former ancient jewish synagogue and archaeological site”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 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 2010
Umm el Kanatir showing pillars of synagogue Um el Kanatir (Umm el-Kanater) (Umm al-Qanāṭir) is an ancient Roman-era town that appears to have been or to have become Jewish in antiquity, on the Golan Heights , now an archeological site being developed into an Archaeological Park. The ancient name has been lost, the meaning of the present, Arabic name is "mother of the arches". The name was given by Arab shepherds who continued to make use of the site the water source, a spring that pours from the face of a cliff into three basins carved of stone in antiquity. Each of the basins was surmounted by a Roman monumental arch of cut basalt. It is assumed that the niches between the arches originally held pagan images of the spirit of the waters. Two of the arches are now in ruins, but one survives intact. They, and the village site, continued to be used into the modern period not as a town but by small numbers of local farmers and shepherds living amid and atop the ruins of the ancient town, sometimes in homes constructed out of ancient blocks of building stone reconstructed into farm houses. The abundant, clean, spring water was the reason for the village's ancient industrial specialization in the production of fine, white linen cloth. The villagers also engaged in mixed farming, and raised sheep and olives. It is believed that the income generated by the linen industry enabled the villagers to construct the very large sixth-century synagogue. Interestingly, the synagogue appears to have been built on the site of a more modest, fifth century synagogue. The large synagogue was destroyed the catastrophic Golan earthquake of 749 . No remains of a Roman temple, church, or mosque have been uncovered. The synagogue building was 18 meters (60 feet) long by 13 meters (43 feet) wide and calculated to have been 12 meters (40 feet) high, making it one of the largest ancient synagogues in the region. Neither the synagogue nor the town were rebuilt after the earthquake of 749. The synagogue was first identified by Laurence Oliphant and Gottlieb Schumacher in 1884. The surviving elements of the ancient synagogue are now being is now being carefully reconstructed by engineer Yeshu Drei and archeologist Haim Ben-David of the Kinneret Academic College and Bar-Ilan University .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 364957395.
The opening as it stood in 2015 17 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Reconstructed Umm el-Kanatir synagogue Um el Kanatir (Umm al-Qanāṭir) (ام القناطر) ( ) (lit."Mother of the Arches") is an archaeological site in the Golan Heights dated to the 6th-8th century.Excavations have revealed a Roman-era Jewish city and synagogue .The site is located 10 kilometers east of the Dead Sea Transform , two kilometers west of Kibbutz Natur .Estimating location and size of historical earthquake by combining archaeology and geology in Umm el-Qanatir, Dead Sea Transform
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 598598120.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Archaeological site in the Golan Heights Partially reconstructed Umm el-Kanatir synagogue (September 2012) Umm el-Kanatir or, in scientific literature, Umm el-Qanatir , also known as Ein Keshatot ( Umm al-Qanāṭir, lit."Mother of the Arches") is an archaeological site on the Golan Heights , whose main phase is dated to the mid-5th - 8th centuries.Excavations have revealed a Roman-era settlement, first inhabited by pagans and later by Jews , who left behind the ruins of an exquisite synagogue when they abandoned the town after it being destroyed by the catastrophic 749 earthquake .The site is located 10 kilometers east of the Dead Sea Transform , one kilometer southwest of Natur .Identification attempts based on Jewish sources have led to two possible ancient names: Kantur, mentioned by Rabbi Menachem di Luzano in his book Ma'arikh (16th/early 17th century); and Qamtra, the name of a place mentioned in the Talmud and with a Jewish past dating back to the Byzantine period.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 937383428.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Archaeological site in the Golan Heights Umm el-Qanatir , also spelled Umm el-Kanatir ( ), also known as Ein Keshatot ( ), is an archaeological site on the Golan Heights , whose main phase is dated to the mid-5th–8th centuries. Excavations have revealed a Roman-period settlement, first inhabited by pagans and later by Jews , who left behind the ruins of an exquisite synagogue when they abandoned the town after it being destroyed by the catastrophic 749 earthquake . The site is located 10 kilometres east of the Dead Sea Transform , one kilometre southwest of Natur . Identification attempts based on Jewish sources have led to two possible ancient names: Kantur, mentioned by Rabbi Menachem di Luzano in his book Ma'arikh (16th/early 17th century); and Qamtra, the name of a place mentioned in the Talmud and with a Jewish past dating back to the Byzantine period. "Estimating location and size of historical earthquake by combining archaeology and geology in Umm-El-Qanatir, Dead Sea Transform" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1152377022.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Archaeological site in the Golan Heights Umm el-Qanatir , also spelled Umm el-Kanatir ( Arabic : ام القناطر , romanized : Umm al-Qanāṭir , lit. ' mother of the arches ' ), recent Israeli name Ein Keshatot ( Hebrew : עין קשתות , lit. ' spring of the arches ' ), is a former ancient Jewish synagogue and archaeological site , located on the Golan Heights , in modern-day Israel , whose main phase is dated to the mid-5th–8th centuries.Excavations have revealed a Roman-period Pagan and later Jewish settlement, who left behind the ruins of a synagogue when they abandoned the town after it being destroyed by the catastrophic 749 earthquake .The archaeological site is located 10 km (6.2 mi) east of the Dead Sea Transform , and 1 km (0.62 mi) southwest of Natur . Identification attempts based on Jewish sources have led to two possible ancient names: Kantur, mentioned by Rabbi Menachem di Luzano in his book Ma'arikh (16th/early 17th century); and Qamtra, the name of a place mentioned in the Talmud and with a Jewish past dating back to the Byzantine period. The Times of Israel . "Estimating location and size of historical earthquake by combining archaeology and geology in Umm-El-Qanatir, Dead Sea Transform" . Studia Post Biblica . 1 & 2 (47 (Themes in Biblical Narrative)) (2nd ed.).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1291128206. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient roman-era town that appears to have been or to have become jewish in antiquity”. Today it says “former ancient jewish synagogue and archaeological site”. 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 between 2010 and 2025.
Then
ancient roman-era town that appears to have been or to have become jewish in antiquity
Now
former ancient jewish synagogue and archaeological site
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.
