Luwians
The Luwians were an ancient people closely associated with the Hittites, speaking a language classified as Indo-European. Their identity is primarily linguistic, evidenced by surviving examples of the Luwian language written in hieroglyphic script. Geographically, the Luwians inhabited the western region of Anatolia, known as Arzawa in Hittite sources, and extended their presence into southern Anatolia and Syria following the decline of the Hittite state. The question of whether they were ethnically distinct from the Hittites or a branch that persisted independently remains debated among scholars. From approximately 1400 to 1250 BCE, Luwian principalities, including Arzawa, were semi-independent but influenced by the Hittite political structure. The Luwians are believed to have impacted the development of later civilizations, such as the Lydians and Phrygians, as well as the culture of Lycia. Their proximity to Greek-speaking cultures has led to speculations linking them to the narratives of the Trojan War and the Homeric epics. The study of Luwian hieroglyphs continues to provide insights into their language and culture, marking them as a significant subject in the history of Anatolia.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Luwians
Date: c. 1400-700 b.c.e.
Locale: Anatolia and Syria
Luwians
The Luwians were a people closely related to the Hittites and, like them, spoke a language now classified as Indo-European. Their identity is largely linguistic rather than political; many examples of the Luwian language, written in hieroglyphic script, survive. The Luwians are primarily associated with the western area of Anatolia (often termed Arzawa in Hittite sources) closest to the Aegean Sea but are also known to have spread across southern Anatolia and even into Syria in the centuries following the collapse of the Hittite state. This raises the question of whether the Luwians were indeed ethnically separate from the Hittites or were Hittites who survived independently of the state apparatus at Hattusas. Arzawa and other Luwian principalities were under the sway of the Hittite realm from about 1400 to 1250 b.c.e. but otherwise were semi-independent. The Arzawa Luwians may have influenced the emerging civilizations of the Lydians and Phrygians and, much more certainly, the Anatolian culture of Lycia. Due to their geographical closeness to the Greek-speaking world, the Luwians are prominent in speculations attempting to link the Hittite world to the Trojan War and the world of the Homeric epics.
Bibliography
Bryce, Trevor. The Kingdom of the Hittites. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Gurney, O. R. The Hittites. New York: Penguin Books, 1990.
Wood, Michael. In Search of the Trojan War. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.