"Salam Affandina" (Egyptian Arabic: سلام أفندينا, lit.'Salute of Our Lord') was the national anthem of Egypt from 1871 to 1922 and 1936–1958, then it was replaced by "Walla Zaman Ya Selahy". It was renamed "Egyptian Republican Anthem" (Arabic: السلام الجمهورى المصرى) in 1953 after the Egyptian revolution of 1952.[1] It was instrumental and had no official lyrics.[1]

Salam Affandina
سلام أفندينا

Former national anthem of Kingdom of Egypt Egypt
Also known asالسلام الجمهورى المصرى (English: "Egyptian Republican Anthem")
MusicGiuseppe Pugioli, 1871
Adopted1871 (by the Khedivate of Egypt)

1914 (by the Sultanate of Egypt)
August 27, 1936 (by the Kingdom of Egypt)

1953 (by the Republic of Egypt)
Relinquished1922 (by the Sultanate of Egypt)
1953 (by the Kingdom of Egypt)
1958 (by the Republic of Egypt)
Audio sample
Salam Affandina
Salam Affandina and Humat ad-Diyar, performed together as the anthem of the United Arab Republic in 1958-60

Other Uses edit

Usage by the Coptic Orthodox Church edit

The melody for the anthem was adopted by the Coptic Orthodox Church for the Papal Hymn of "Kalos Akee" (Coptic: Ⲕⲁⲗⲟⲥ ⲁⲕⲓ̀ ϣⲁⲣⲟⲛ ⲙ̀ⲫⲟⲟⲩ). This hymn is chanted to welcome the Coptic Pope upon his return to the homeland from travel abroad.[2] Originally, the hymn had no original or unique tone of its own, with each of its verses being sung in a tone recycled from one of the other hymns of the church. In the 20th century, Cantor Mikhail Girgis El Batanouny musically arranged the hymn to the tone of "Salam Affandina", which had been the Egyptian national anthem at the time.[2]

Usage in Sephardic Synagogues edit

The melody of the song has been adopted by Sephardic Jewry and is currently sung in Sephardic synagogues in Israel when the Torah Scroll is taken out of the ark.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Egypt (to 1958)". nationalanthems.info. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Papal Hymns - ألحان البابا :: Kalos Akee :: كالوس إكي إ". tasbeha.org. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  3. ^ "The source of the melody of Torah Scroll".