author

Charles E. Moldenke

1860–1935

An American Lutheran minister and Egyptologist, he wrote with real enthusiasm about ancient Egypt and helped make subjects like hieroglyphics and obelisks feel vivid for general readers. His best-known work, The New York Obelisk: Cleopatra's Needle, brought scholarship and storytelling together around one of New York City's most famous monuments.

1 Audiobook

The New York Obelisk: Cleopatra's Needle With a Preliminary Sketch of the History, Erection, Uses, and Signification of Obelisks

The New York Obelisk: Cleopatra's Needle With a Preliminary Sketch of the History, Erection, Uses, and Signification of Obelisks

by Charles E. Moldenke

About the author

Born in Lyck, Prussia, in 1860, Charles E. Moldenke later built a career that joined ministry, scholarship, and a strong interest in ancient Egypt. He studied at Columbia, continued theological work in Philadelphia, and also pursued advanced study in Germany before being ordained as a Lutheran minister.

Alongside his church work in New Jersey and New York, he published books and studies on Egyptian language, texts, and history. His writings included The Egyptian Origin of Our Alphabet, The World's Most Ancient Fairy-Tale, the Two Brothers, and Egyptian Classics, but he is especially remembered for The New York Obelisk: Cleopatra's Needle, a book centered on the famous obelisk in New York and the meanings behind its inscriptions.

Moldenke died in 1935. Even now, his work stands out for the way it tried to open the world of Egyptology to curious non-specialists without losing its scholarly spirit.