Hittite (natively "[in the language] of
Neša"), also known as
Nesite and
Neshite, is the
extinct language once spoken by the
Hittites, an
Indo-European people who created an empire centred on
Hattusa in north-central
Anatolia (modern-day
Turkey). The language is attested in
cuneiform, in records from the 16th (
Anitta text) down to the 13th century BC, with isolated Hittite loanwords and numerous personal names appearing in an
Old Assyrian context from as early as the 20th century BC.