Nina Burleigh 's Comments
Nov 25, 2008 | comments: 13
Nina Burleigh Nov 25, 2008, 4:57pm EST
Thanks for the review. I am really pleased to find people enjoy the book. Feel free to email me with any questions about it. Those who have not read it can also read parts of it on my website, www.ninaburleigh.com.
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 12:01pm EST
Thank you so much for being interested everyone!
Feel free to go to my website, www.ninaburleigh.com, if you want more information, and to reach me directly via email. I am sorry if I didn't get to answer every question - do contact me via email if you want to continue chatting.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Nina
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 11:59am EST
To answer Diana:
This book doesn't question biblical events - not at all. It reports on a crime story involving modern forgeries, and tells the amazing story behind the investigation into that crime.
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 11:58am EST
Susan, I don't think the book encourages people to believe or disbelieve in the Bible. It is a book about human beings conning people, a human crime story, and a cautionary tale for people who want material proof for faith.
As to the question of danger from JF, I encountered very little resistance in ISrael - everyone wanted to talk to me, from the cops to the alleged forger. The most dangerous thing I encountered was once crossing a checkpoint between ISrael and the West Bank, I was lost and talking on a cell phone and I learned - as a soldier with a loaded gun yelled at me - that talking on a cellphone at a checkpoint is forbidden!
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 11:51am EST
To answer Ashley and Collins:
I have become more interested in religion as I've grown older, although I am not a strongly religious person. I was raised by Christians, and that is where I am culturally.
I got interested in the book because I like mysteries, and I am interested in the midle east. I saw an article about the forgers being indicted, in a case the authorities in ISrael called "the fraud of the century." This piqued my interested. Because from what I knew of the faithful, people who have faith don't need material proof. And I wondered what sort of person would deviously play with people's belief systems like that.
I first went to ISrael in late 2006, and went in and out throughout 2007, researching the book. I met all sorts of eccentric characters and the setting, Old City Jerusalem, the archaeological sites, the desert, the Galilee, was all so fascinating. I felt like I was in a movie.
It took me five months to actually write the book. It just flowed out of me. I enjoyed every minute of it. And because of that, I think I was able to impart a sense of excitement and adventure that reaches readers.
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 11:47am EST
To answer Apryl, Yes there was a man in the 19th Century, who created a whole bunch of artifacts, in I think, the Moabite language. He was very successful with it, until someone proved they were fakes. He then, tragically, committed suicide. The artifacts are now on display in a museum in Germany, they were so well-made. I wrote a little about this man in my book, because some people believe he is the model for the current forger.
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 11:44am EST
To answer Susan, re DNA:
I never ran across any reputable scientist who said they found DNA on archaeological artifacts from the Holy Land. The movie The Lost Tomb of Jesus did claim that DNA was found in some ossuaries taken out of a cave near Jerusalem. Scholars have said that the only DNA possibly in those boxes came from the archaeologists who first removed them from the cave in the 1980s.
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 11:41am EST
To answer Doc: I haven't received any negative reaction from the religious community. I think religious believers, even more than the secular community, will find this book both fascinating and useful, as it will help them understand to be wary of people collecting money to dig in Israel for things like the DNA of the red heifer, or Noah's Ark, which are perennial money-makers for con artists.
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 11:38am EST
To address Misty and Minipin, I agree that people of faith, by definition, do not need material proof. The question of whether the Bible is a historical document or not, again, is answered by people of faith differently from non-believers. What was happening with the forgeries I cover in my book is that scientists were being asked to verify the authenticity of objects that appeared to confirm biblical stories. Scientists who examined these objects found things like modern glue, and modern word usages, indicating that they were made recently, not thousands of years ago. That doesn't mean the Bible is fiction, it means that someone was trying to make money off believers who want material proof.
Nov 21, 2008 | comments: 237
Nina Burleigh Nov 24, 2008, 11:33am EST
Hello, and thanks for inviting me to chat.
Christine, to answer your question: It is especially difficult to distinguish fact from fiction these days, as a global media hype machine gets started every time a new "find" is announced. The best thing to do is to see whether scholars from reputable organizations like the Americans Schools of Oriental research or the Society for Biblical Literature have commented on the find. These people are extremely knowledgeable, and usually have the least to gain from puffing up something of dubious origin or meaning.
Nov 19, 2008 | comments: 13
Nina Burleigh Nov 21, 2008, 10:01am EST
Dear Doc,
Thanks for the kind words. I wish I was still a "young" writer .. but I will definitely take that as a compliment.
I am so glad that you enjoyed the pacing, I worked very hard on that. This is my fourth book, and I feel I finally figured out how to do it.
I must run, but will discuss more in a minute.
Nina
Nov 17, 2008 | comments: 5
Nina Burleigh Nov 17, 2008, 9:05pm EST
Boy, I'd love to be a fly on the wall during those conversations.
Every time I talk about this idea of proof for faith, which is what got me interested in the story from the start, I learn something new about my own assumptions. For example, I tell people, everyone involved in this book looks at these objects from point of belief, a kind of lens. And then I have to ask myself, what is my lens. Because I bring my own belief system, as unfocused and haphazard as it is, as a person without organized religion in my background, to everything I look at too.
What's especially interesting with this particular story is that science and belief commingle.
Nov 8, 2008 | comments: 50
Nina Burleigh Nov 13, 2008, 5:00pm EST
Thanks for having a look at my book, Connie. I am so glad to hear that as a person of faith, you appreciate it. My son, who is 9, asked me the other day, will people who read the Bible not like your book, mommy? And I said to him, from what I know of people of strong faith (I grew up in southern Michigan around the Mennonites and Amish) they don't need proof. They have it already, inside themselves.
Jul 31, 2007 | comments: 23
Nina Burleigh Nov 7, 2008, 9:40pm EST
Hi,
Researching my book Unholy Business last year, I learned that there are scholarly people who believe the Bible is utter fiction, and others - some also scholars - who are running around Israel and the Occupied Territories with spade in one had and Bible in the other trying to prove it literally true. The middle ground seems to be that the Bible contains some historical facts - names of cities for example, and some personages. But it takes real faith to belive in its literalness. While people do want material proof, people will also believe what they want to believe ... which has allowed forgers a great opening in the world of biblical archaeology.
Nov 5, 2008 | comments: 79
Nina Burleigh Nov 7, 2008, 9:23pm EST
Happy Birthday!
Nov 5, 2008 | comments: 39
Nina Burleigh Nov 7, 2008, 9:21pm EST
Fantastic, congratlations Julie! I want to recommend to you a book you might like, by my friend Jeannie Ralston: The Unlikely Lavendar Queen. It's her story of leaving the life she's dreamed of, of being a New York writer, and following the man she loved to become - a lavendar farmer in texas! I think you will relate to it.
Again, good for you!
Nina
Nov 3, 2008 | comments: 11
Nina Burleigh Nov 5, 2008, 11:44am EST
There has been some recent news on this forgery trial. The judge overseeing the trial told the prosecution they had not made their case .. mainly because they could never get two experts to agree on anything! So the Israeli Justice Ministry is now stepping in.
Archaeology has been on trial, in a small Jerusalem courtroom, and few people have noticed.
Oct 15, 2008 | comments: 45
Nina Burleigh Oct 22, 2008, 4:16pm EDT
I'm thrilled with Unholy Business, and I look forward to talking about the characters I met and how I followed this amazing story through the back alleys of Jerusalem.
 
Nina Burleigh
New York, New York
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