"Hatikvah" (Hebrew: הַתִּקְוָה) (lit. English: The Hope) is the national anthem of Israel. Its lyrics are adapted from a poem written by Naphtali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet from Złoczów, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austro-Hungarian Empire, (today, Zolochiv, Ukraine). Imber wrote the first version of his poem in 1877 while being hosted as a guest by a Jewish scholar in the city of Iasi, Romania. The romantic anthem's theme reflects the nearly 2000-year-old hope of the Jewish people to return to the Land of Israel - their ancient homeland - and to restore it and reclaim it as a sovereign nation.