Lost, Denied, (Re)Constructed: The Identity of the Hittites and Luwians in the Historiographical Debate of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

The interpretation of recently discovered Hittite and Luwian materials stands out as one of the great historiographical debates at the turn of the Twentieth Century. The discussion of aspects of cultural identity from a linguistic, anthropological and ethnographical point of view was of crucial importance. The debate focused on the role played by ethnic differences, not only during the formative period of the Hittite kingdom, but also in its crisis and collapse at the end of the XIII century. Archibald Henry Sayce, Eduard Meyer and Felix von Luschan were among the main representatives of the debate, which also captured the interest of Luigi Schiaparelli and of the Jesuit Cesare Antonio De Cara in Italy. The chapters devoted to Hittites and Luwians in the numerous editions of Meyer's influential Geschichte des Alterthums (from 1884, on) serve to illuminate the evolution of the debate. However, a deep understanding of the topic would be incomplete without also studying unpublished archival documents, and even more importantly, correspondence between scholars.