Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of unsolved problems in Egyptology


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.  

The result was keep, time for all you keep voters to get busy on the content issues.  Dei zio  talk 13:14, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

List of unsolved problems in Egyptology

 * List of ancient Egypt mysteries was nominated for deletion on 2005-05-27. The result of the discussion was "no consensus".  For the prior discussion, see Articles for deletion/List of ancient Egypt mysteries.

As noted on the Talk page, this list is mainly a list of questions with no answers due to gaps in our knowledge of the past. They may never be answered. This list can go on and on in that regard. Furthermore, most of the questions smack of "educational" sensationalism that appeal to TV viewers but not serious research. They beg for Original Research and are POV. Also as stated on the Talk page, those questions which are legitimate can be asked and discussed on their respective articles pages. There is no need for this list. —Flembles 08:32, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Unsolved problems in physics, and indeed the other articles in Category:Lists of unsolved problems, are lists of questions with (as yet) no answers, too. The important consideration is not whether the questions have answers, but whether they are verifiable and not original research &mdash; in other words whether they are properly documented as being unsolved problems and gaps in our knowledge, and more than just one person in the field of egyptology regards them to be unsolved problems.  Given that the article cites four books as references and lists six more in its further reading section, it appears, from that alone, that the problems with the article are mainly ensuring that all content is properly verifiable from multiple sources, ensuring that the article isn't overpowered by the speculation of just one source by ensuring that each individual item has multiple sources, and ensuring that the summary at Ancient Egypt matches the article.  This is a content problem, that can be solved by ordinary editors doing ordinary editing, communicating on the article's talk page, and not one that requires an administrator to delete the article.  AFD is not cleanup.  Keep. Uncle G 09:44, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * It lists four books with the word "mystery" in the title. There are a host of these in print. "Mysteries of Egypt/King Tut/Ramesses II/the Great Sphinx/etc." sells better than "Problems and Priorities in Egyptology". It has nothing to do if there is, in fact, an unsolveable problem but marketing. Most of the questions posed are either answerable but not sexy ("where did the Egyptians come from?" Egypt); not knowable ("Was King Khufu (Cheops) a good ruler or a tyrant, as later tradition described him?" never going to know that without a time machine and what is a "good ruler" anyhow? Good according to whom? Us or the Egyptians?); or require a long answer that is better handled in an article ("What were the origins of the Egyptian pyramids? When and where was the concept of pyramids conceived? What were the pyramids used for? How were the pyramids built? When and why did the era of pyramid building end?" all answerable to one degree or another, but not quickly). The list is pointless. Delete—Flembles 10:06, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * ("where did the Egyptians come from?" Egypt That was pretty funny, but kind of misleading. Example the Egyptians of today are partly or largely Arab so they do not originate from Egypt. Hence the question asks if the ancient Egyptians originated there or were also from elsewhere. In context this is rather clear. Still many of the questions in it now are too subjective or meaningless, but there are legitimate unsolved questions in Egyptology.--T. Anthony 16:22, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * You have still described nothing more than a content problem, that is solved by doing more of what has already been done over the past year at Talk:List of unsolved problems in Egyptology. AFD is not an easy escape for editors who don't want to address content problems head-on.  And as you can see by Unsolved problems in physics, linking to the longer articles that address the unsolved problems in detail is in fact one function of lists such as these. Uncle G 10:29, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak delete with my little experience, it looks like listcruft to me ST47 Talk 11:31, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak keep Because the concept and title could be used to make a valid article. Skimming this article though it is poor to awful. However total rewrite is preferable to deleting and starting over.--T. Anthony 12:24, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep and rewrite. -- That Guy 14:00, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep and peer review and rewrite --Ouro 15:35, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak delete (as no expert). Could be good for the Sunday edition in a tabloid. Does not mention things like studies of agricultural economy of ancient Egypt, based on preserved farm records. These studies are not as sexy as who killed whom but allow to get insight into the society and its structural changes over time. They take years or decades and hardly ever get mention in sensationalistic media. Pavel Vozenilek 19:28, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I do not believe rewrite is realistic solution, looking at the history of the article. It was requested in last VfD in 2005 as well. Pavel Vozenilek 19:31, 14 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Keep What we have here is a content issue, not a deletion issue.  Multiple reliable sources are available; the sheer number of popular books on the subject makes the topic encyclopedic.  The content is not obviously so bad that a total replacement is required.  If anyone wants to do a total replacement, go write one as a user subpage, then use the bold, revert, discuss method of replacement.  GRBerry 14:05, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep and rewrite -- This list would obviously be useful to people that are interested in Egypt and anthropology, and some of the questions are enough to pique interest. It might not be too difficult to bring the article up a little bit standards-wise.  -- pie4all88 09:35, 18 October 2006 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.