author

Charles E. Moldenke

1860–1935

An American writer and Egyptologist with a gift for making ancient subjects feel vivid, he is best known for books on Cleopatra’s Needle in New York and on Egyptian texts. His work helped bring Egyptology to general readers in the late nineteenth century.

1 Audiobook

The New York Obelisk: Cleopatra's Needle

The New York Obelisk: Cleopatra's Needle

by Charles E. Moldenke

About the author

Born in 1860 and deceased in 1935, Charles E. Moldenke wrote in English on ancient Egypt for both curious general readers and more specialized audiences. His books include The New York Obelisk: Cleopatra’s Needle, a detailed history of the famous monument in Central Park, and The Tale of the Two Brothers, based on the D'Orbiney Papyrus.

Surviving editions of his work present him as Charles E. Moldenke, A.M., Ph.D., and show a strong interest in Egyptian language, inscriptions, and antiquities. Another work associated with him, published in German in the 1880s, focuses on trees mentioned in ancient Egyptian texts, suggesting a scholarly range that mixed philology, natural history, and archaeology.

Reliable portrait material appears to be scarce, so no confirmed author image is included here. Even so, his books still offer an appealing window into an era when discoveries from ancient Egypt were capturing the public imagination.