Luwians

[4] Archaeological evidence suggests disruptions dating to roughly 2200 BC within the earliest known geographical area of luwili[7] and proximate to the location where Luwian names appear in Assyrian records.

[3] Their arrival is temporally related to the rebellion of lu-lu-bi,[8] - more commonly known as Lullu, [9][10][11][12] who according to Mesopotamian inscriptions rebelled against the Gutian king Erridupizir[13] circa 2141–2138 BC.

The linguist Ilya Yakubovich has given the most succinct quote concerning the Luwians, stating: The Hittite laws contain a handful of references to the country named Luviya, which is not accompanied by the geographic identification of this region, while a number of other texts introduce passages that were expected to be uttered luwili (in the Luvian language), even though not all of them are actually recorded in Luvian.

[23][24] Woudhuizen argued that Luwian-speakers populated the Greek mainland and the Aegaen islands prior to the arrival of the Mycenaeans:[22] 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.

[28] 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 BC as the final dating for wood used in construction, providing a plausible terminus a quo for the Luwian takeover of the region.

[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] 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.

[33] In 2018 it was revealed that prominent British historian James Mellaart had fabricated Luwian inscriptions over the course of his career, invalidating any research based upon his work.