ABSTRACT
In the early Iron Age, a number of kingdoms emerged or developed afresh in south-eastern Anatolia and northern Syria following the collapse of the Hittite empire. ey are commonly referred to as the Neo-Hittite kingdoms, since they preserved a number of Hittite cultural traditions, including elements of Hittite religion, architecture and iconography. Most notably, the rulers of the NeoHittite states, and elite members of their administrations, used the Luwian hieroglyphic script and language for the records they inscribed on public monuments. ese were dedicatory or commemorative in nature, and sometimes contained an outline of their author’s building and military achievements. A small group of economic texts and letters written in Luwian hieroglyphs on lead strips have also come to light. e former were found at the site now called Kululu, just south of the Halys r., the latter in the Assyrian city Ashur (their original provenance is unknown). Luwian had become the most widely spoken language of the Hittite empire, and in the empire’s nal century was regularly used by Hittite kings for recording their achievements on public monuments. Its status as the language of royalty was preserved in the Neo-Hittite kingdoms. Many of the rulers of these kingdoms bore the names of Late Bronze Age Hittite kings, like Suppiluliuma, Muwattalli and Hattusili.
