Cuneiform TI or TÌL has the main meaning of "life" when used ideographically. The written sign developed from the drawing of an arrow, since the words meaning "arrow" and "life" were pronounced simila
TA-TU-TI scribe study tablet Artifact AD AO 5399 now found in the Louvre museum]. Old Babylonian period, c. 1800-1700 BC.
Amarna letter EA 365 (reverse, top half), Biridiya to Pharaoh, (subject corvee labor, and townsites: Shunama, Yapu, and Nuribta). The "alphabetic" ti sign is used in the 3rd and 4th lines from the top (lines 17 and 18). (high resolution, expandible photo)
Amarna letter EA 364, ti, 2nd line from bottom, 2nd character from left. (approximated out-of-focus, curving bottom of clay tablet; most of tablet in focus; high resolution, expandible photo)