TI (cuneiform)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cuneiform TI or TÌL (Borger 2003 nr. ; U+122FE 𒋾) has the main meaning of "life" when used ideographically.

With the determinative UZU 𒍜 "flesh, meat", ^UZUTI, it means "rib". This homophony is exploited in the myth of Ninti (𒊩𒌆𒋾 NIN.TI "lady of life" or "lady of the rib"), created by Ninhursag to cure the ailing Enki. Since Eve is called "mother of life" in Genesis, together with her being taken from Adam's צלע tsela` "side, rib", the story of Adam and Eve has been taken to derive from that of Ninti.

In Akkadian orthography, the sign has the syllabic values di or ṭi, in Hittite ti, di or te.