Political Atlas
Things this atlas does not know. Each entry is a question that specialists
have posed and not settled, recorded with what would actually resolve it and which
expertise the answer needs.
These are kept deliberately, rather than quietly omitted. An atlas that shows
only what it is sure of implies a confidence it has not earned, and the gaps are often where
the interesting work is. Several sit exactly where two fields fail to meet: identifying the
hyssop of the Hebrew Bible needs a botanist and a philologist of Biblical Hebrew, and neither
one settles it alone.
Grouped by the shape of the gap rather than its subject: what sort of thing is unresolved.
Filter By Specialty 99 fields, 1 selected
Showing 3 of 608 questions, filtered to 1 specialty.
Provenance 3
Where something came from, and whether its origin story holds up.
Reflexology
Does the Tomb of Ankhmahor depict a foot treatment that prefigures reflexology?
Open Reflexology
Why It Is Open The Sixth Dynasty relief at Saqqara is very widely cited by reflexology sources as evidence of ancient Egyptian practice. Egyptological readings of the same scene as ordinary manicure, pedicure or medical care exist. Engy El-Kilany has published a survey of foot care scenes in Egyptian tombs which secondary reports quote as calling the nature of the therapy depicted still debated, but that paper could not be obtained, and no Egyptological analysis settling the question either way has been found.
What Would Settle It A published Egyptological analysis of the Ankhmahor relief addressing the reflexology claim directly, either way.
Expertise Needed Egyptology and the history of medicine.
Question posed in
Reflexology: Panacea or Placebo?, Hylton B. Menz, Paragraph on the tomb of Ankhmahor.
Iridology
Did Ignatz von Peczely originate iridology after observing an injured owl?
Open Iridology
Why It Is Open The owl story is repeated in nearly every account of iridology's origin and is presented as its founding moment, but the accounts trace to later iridological literature rather than to anything Peczely wrote. It has the shape of a foundation legend.
What Would Settle It A statement by Peczely himself, or a contemporary account, describing the observation. Absent that, the earliest attestation of the story would at least date the legend.
Expertise Needed History of medicine, and Hungarian-language archival sources.
Question posed in
Ignaz von Peczely, Inventor of Iridology, Edzard Ernst, Chapter 19, abstract.
Wellcome Collection
Which Items in the Wellcome Collection Correspond to Subjects Already Held Here?
Open Wellcome Collection
Why It Is Open The Wellcome holds a large collection on the history of medicine, magic and belief, much of it digitised. Specific correspondences to items already held here were not established.
What Would Settle It Catalogue identifiers from the Wellcome's own openly available catalogue.
Expertise Needed History of medicine and catalogue research.
Question posed in
Divinity Atlas Open Questions Register, First Edition.