Ancient history

What languages were spoken by the Hittites?

The Hittites, an ancient civilization that inhabited central Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) from around 1600 to 1200 BCE, used several languages throughout their history:

- Hittite: The primary and official language of the Hittite Empire. It belongs to the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. Hittite is known primarily through cuneiform tablets and inscriptions, and its understanding has been an important field of study in philology and ancient history.

- Luwian: Another member of the Anatolian language family, Luwian was widely used in the Hittite Empire, especially in the southern and western regions of Anatolia. It had several dialects, including Hieroglyphic Luwian, which was used for monumental inscriptions and rock carvings, and Cuneiform Luwian, used in official documents.

- Hurrian: Hurrian, or Mitanni, was not an Indo-European language but was widely used as a diplomatic language in the ancient Near East during the 2nd millennium BCE. It was spoken by the Hurrians, who had a kingdom in northern Mesopotamia and interacted closely with the Hittites. Some Hittite kings and queens even had Hurrian names, reflecting the cultural exchange between the two civilizations.

- Akkadian: The Akkadian language, belonging to the Semitic language family, was widely used as an international lingua franca in ancient Mesopotamia and the surrounding regions during the 2nd millennium BCE. Although not a native language of the Hittites, it was known and used by some Hittites, particularly for diplomatic correspondence.

- Ugaritic: Ugaritic, a Northwest Semitic language, was spoken in the city-state of Ugarit (modern-day Ras Shamra, Syria) during the Late Bronze Age. Although not extensively used by the Hittites themselves, Ugarit was a major trading partner and cultural center in the region, and some Ugaritic loanwords have been found in Hittite texts.