Hittite language
Hittite (Hittite cuneiform: 𒌷𒉌𒅆𒇷, romanized: nešili, lit. 'in the language of Neša', or nešumnili lit. 'in the language of the people of Neša'), also known as Nesite (Nešite/Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language formerly spoken spoken in Bronze Age Anatolia by the Hittites, who founded an empire centered around Hattusa. The language, now long extinct, is attested in cuneiform, in records dating from the 17th (Anitta text) to the 13th centuries BC, with isolated Hittite loanwords and numerous personal names appearing in an Old Assyrian context from as early as the 20th century BC, making it the earliest attested use of the Indo-European languages.