“Road Systems from Egypt through Sinai”

This presentation explores several well-known roads mentioned in the Bible, including the Way to the Land of the Philistines and the Way of Shur. Additional routes referenced in the book of Exodus will also be introduced, with attention to their geographical and historical significance. Together, these pathways reveal the role of geography in shaping the Israelites’ journeys through the Sinai.

Dr. James K. Hoffmeier

James K. Hoffmeier is Emeritus Professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern Archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois. Born and raised in Egypt, Hoffmeier developed a lifelong passion for biblical archaeology and Old Testament studies during his youth. He earned his B.A. in Near Eastern Archaeology from Wheaton College (IL), followed by M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Ancient Near Eastern Religions from the University of Toronto, where he majored in Egyptian studies and minored in Old Testament. While in graduate school, he participated in the Akhenaten Temple Project’s excavations at East Karnak.

From 1980 to 1999, Hoffmeier served on the faculty of Wheaton College, and from 1999 to 2019 he taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He directed the North Sinai Archaeological Project (1994–2008), which included excavations at Tell el-Borg and paleo-environmental research in northwestern Sinai. Two volumes of final reports—Tell el-Borg I (2014) and II (2019)—have been published. He is currently engaged in archaeological fieldwork at the Taharka (Tirhaka) pyramid complex in Nuri, Sudan.

Hoffmeier is the author of numerous scholarly works, including Israel in Egypt (Oxford University Press, 1997; enlarged edition forthcoming as Israel In and Out of Egypt, Hendrickson), Ancient Israel in Sinai (Oxford University Press, 2005), Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism (Oxford University Press, 2015), and The Prophets of Israel: Walking Ancient Paths (Kregel, 2021). He has authored or edited twenty books and published more than one hundred articles in journals, edited volumes, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.

Since his retirement in 2019, Hoffmeier has made his home in Paradise, Pennsylvania, near his daughter, Jessica, and five grandchildren, with whom he enjoys regular visits. His son, Ben, is a football coach in Houston, Texas, where he lives with his wife and son (born January 8, 2024).

Dr. Hoffmeier is a member of Keystone Evangelical Free Church in Paradise. He remains active as an educator, leading Bible Land Study tours to Egypt and Turkey, teaching adult Bible classes, and lecturing widely in Egypt, as well as in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mongolia, Romania, Australia, England, and the United States.