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Which Anatolian languages are known from cuneiform tablets?

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Map of ancient Anatolia and northern Syria showing the geographic distribution of Anatolian languages, including Hittite, Hattian, Lydian, Phrygian, Palaic, Carian, Lycian, Pisidian, Hurrian, and Urartean. Major historical sites such as Hattusa, Kanesh, and Ugarit are marked, with the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea bordering the region.
Anatolian languages Distribution of the Anatolian languages.

The Anatolian languages known from cuneiform tablets are Hittite, Palaic, and Cuneiform Luwian.1

These languages were recorded using cuneiform script, primarily on clay tablets discovered in the archives of the ancient Hittite capital, Hattusa.12

  • Hittite: Known from approximately 30,000 tablets or fragments, this language was used for a wide range of administrative, legal, religious, and literary texts.2
  • Palaic: Preserved in a limited number of liturgical fragments found at Hattusa, which were dedicated to the cult of the god Ziparwa.34
  • Cuneiform Luwian: Recorded in ritual passages and loanwords within the broader corpus of Hittite cuneiform texts dating from the 16th to the 13th centuries BCE.5