The Luwians/ˈluːwiənz/ were an ancient people in
Anatolia who spoke the
Luwian language. During the
Bronze Age, Luwians formed part of the population of the
Hittite Empire and adjoining states such as
Kizzuwatna. During the
Hittite New Kingdom, Luwian replaced Hittite as the empire's dominant language. In the early
Iron Age, a number of Luwian-speaking
Neo-Hittite states arose in northern Syria. The Luwians are known largely from their language, and it is unclear to what extent they formed a unified cultural or political group.
Their route into Anatolia is unknown. Linguist
Craig Melchert suggested they were related to the
Demirci Hüyük culture, implying entry into Anatolia from ancient
Thrace circa 3000 BC.[6] More plausible is a westward migration route along the
Aras river toward
Cilicia by proto-Luwians of the rapidly expanding
Kura–Araxes culture.[7][8] Luwian was probably spoken over a larger geographic region than Hittite.[9]
Luwians first appear in the historical record around 2000 BC, 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 BC (
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.
Hittite period
The
Old Hittite laws from the 17th century BC 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.[10] 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.[citation needed]
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 BC. 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 Mitanni renounced 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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.[11]
Hartmut Blum. “Luwier in der Ilias?”, Troia – Traum und Wirklichkeit: Ein Mythos in Geschichte und Rezeption, in: Tagungsband zum Symposion im Braunschweigischen Landesmuseum am 8. und 9. Juni 2001 im Rahmen der Ausstellung “Troia: Traum und Wirklichkeit”. Braunschweig:
Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, 2003.
ISBN3-927939-57-9, pp. 40–47.
Billie Jean Collins, Mary R. Bachvarova, & Ian C. Rutherford, eds. Anatolian Interfaces: Hittites, Greeks and their Neighbours. London: Oxbow Books, 2008.