Šuwardata

Å uwardata (Shuwardata, Å uardatu) is understood by most scholars to be the king of the Canaanite city of Gath (Tell es-Safi), although some have suggested that he was the 'mayor' of Qiltu (Keilah?, or Qi'iltu), during the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Å uwardata was the author of 8 letters to the Egyptian pharaoh.

Name

The name Å uwardata may be of Indo-Aryan origin, perhaps reflecting a compound including the Vedic Sun god Surya and meaning "given by heaven."

Sample of Å uwardata's letters

Besides letters EA 283, and EA 366, (EA for 'el Amarna'), only letter 280 tells of intrigues: See Labaya, or Abdi-Heba, as EA 280 claims: "Moreover, Lab'ayu who used to take our town, is dead, but now [an]other Lab'ayu is 'Abdi-Heba, and he seizes our town."

The other 5 letters do refer to the following: Qeltu-(Qiltu, Keilah:); silver (as mercenary pay); the Sun, (as Rê); the archer-forces; and the only reference to Rahmanu, an Egyptian official, (letter EA 284, "The powerful hand of the king").

EA 283: "Oh to see the king"--(no. 6 of 8)

All Å uwardata's letters are addressed to the pharaoh.

Å uwardata must have been an important regional individual, since he claims 30 cities, sub-cities, or city-states have been warring with his city.

EA 366: "A rescue operation"--(no. 8 of 8)

List of letters

#EA 278—title: "As ordered (4)"

#EA 279—title: "A wasteland"

#EA 280—title: "Lab'ayu redivivus"

#EA 281—title: "Rebellion"

#EA 282—title: "Alone"

#EA 283—title: "Oh! to see the king.

#EA 284—title: "The powerful hand of the king"

and from the later corpus:

#EA 366—title: "A rescue operation"

See also

• Labaya
• Abdi-Heba, mayor of Uru-salim-Jerusalem
• Upu - (reference from letter EA 366 ?-(borders))

References

Bibliography

• Moran, William L. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, )

External links

• A minor discussion of "Å amê"-(Sky/Heaven): "dingir A-num AN-e, dingir Anum, Å amê"--(the Cuneiform); See: Dingir