Šuwardata
Šuwardata, also Šuardatu, ("Shuwardata") 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. Šuwardata was the author of 8 letters to the Egyptian pharaoh. Sample of Šuwardata'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 Šuwardata's letters are addressed to the pharaoh. Šuwardata must have been an important regional individual, since he claims 30 cities, sub-cities, or city-states have been warring with his city. List of letters. and from the later corpus