in the
National Museum of Aleppo.
Land of Luwiya Luwians first appear in the historical record around 2000 BCE, with the presence of
personal names and
loan words in
Old Assyrian Empire documents from the Assyrian colony of
Kültepe, dating from between 1950 and 1700 BCE (
Middle Chronology), which shows that Luwian and
Hittite were already two distinct languages at this point. The Luwians most likely lived in southern and western Anatolia, perhaps with a political centre at
Purushanda. The Assyrian colonists and traders who were present in Anatolia at this time refer to the local people as
nuwaʿum without any differentiation. This term seems to derive from the name of the Luwians, with the change from l/n resulting from the mediation of
Hurrian. Linguistic models suggest the existence of a common Luwian-speaking state circa 2000 BCE, stretching from the central Anatolian plateau (modern
Konya) northward to the western bend of the Maraššantiya (where modern
Ankara,
Kırıkkale and
Kırşehir provinces meet). The region was dominated by the kingdom of
Purushanda, and a region made up of an eclectic mix of Luwian-speaking Luwians, Hattic-speaking Luwians, Luwian-speaking Hattians and Hattic-speaking Hattians. Archaeology at
Acemhöyük has confirmed the remains of central Anatolian, Mesopotamian and north Syrian pottery - as well as traces of monumental structures - which tree ring analysis establish 2157 BCE as the final dating for wood used in construction, providing a plausible
terminus a quo for the Luwian takeover of the region. (Unqi) The
Old Hittite laws from the 17th century BCE contain cases relating to the then independent regions of
Palā and
Luwiya. Traders and displaced people seem to have moved from one country to the other on the basis of agreements between Ḫattusa and Luwiya. It has been argued that the Luwians never formed a single unified Luwian state but populated a number of polities where they mixed with other population groups, though a minority opinion holds that the Luwians formed a unified socio-political group. During the Hittite period, the kingdom of
Kizzuwatna had its own dialect of Luwian, distinct from that spoken in
Hattusa. Kizzuwatna was the Hittite and Luwian name for ancient
Cilicia. The area was conquered by the Hittites in the 16th century BCE. Around 1500, the area broke off and became the kingdom of Kizzuwatna, whose ruler used the title of "Great King", like the Hittite ruler. The Hittite king
Telipinu had to conclude a treaty with King Išputaḫšu, which was renewed by his successors. Under King
Pilliya, Kizzuwatna became a vassal of the
Mitanni. Around 1420, King
Šunaššura of Kizzuwatna renounced the Mitannian control of Kizzuwatna and concluded an alliance with the Hittite king
Tudḫaliya I. Soon after this, the area seems to have been incorporated into the Hittite empire and remained so until its collapse around 1190 BC at the hands of
Assyria and
Phrygia. Western Anatolian kingdoms such as
Seha,
Arzawa, and
Wilusa may have had at least partially Luwian-speaking populations, though current evidence leaves room for doubt, and this is a matter of controversy in contemporary scholarship. Petra Goedegebuure of the
Oriental Institute has argued that Luwian was spoken from the eastern
Aegean coast to
Melid and as far north as
Alaca Hoyuk during the Hittite Kingdom.
Post-Hittite period (orange shades) states in the 8th century BCE After the collapse of the Hittite Empire c. 1180 BCE, several small principalities developed in northern Syria and southwestern Anatolia. In south-central Anatolia was
Tabal which probably consisted of several small city-states, in Cilicia there was
Quwê, in northern Syria was
Gurgum, on the Euphrates there were
Melid,
Kummuh,
Carchemish and (east of the river)
Masuwara, while on the
Orontes River there were
Unqi-Pattin and
Hamath. The princes and traders of these kingdoms used Hieroglyphic Luwian in inscriptions, the latest of which date to the 8th century BC. The
Karatepe Bilingual inscription of prince
Azatiwada is particularly important. These states were largely destroyed and incorporated into the
Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC) during the 9th century BC. == Popular culture ==