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Concept
Luwians
Summary
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.
There is no consensus on the origins of the Luwians. Armenia, Iran, the Balkans, the Pontic–Caspian steppe and Central Asia have all been suggested.
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. More plausible is a westward migration route along the Aras river toward Cilicia by proto-Luwians of the rapidly expanding Kura–Araxes culture. Luwian was probably spoken over a larger geographic region than Hittite.
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.
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.
Official source
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