Luwian was among the languages spoken by population groups in the Hittite Empire, attested in the Bronze and early Iron ages. Luwian (and Hittite) groups are now believed by most academic specialists to have moved south into Aram Naharaim and Canaan after ca. the 14th century BC, and to have had an influence on on the various West Semitic languages its speakers came into contact with; Amorite dialects and especially Hebrew. Hieroglyphic Luwian stelae have been discovered in these areas.