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Regular expressions
The Princeton Geniza Project database allows for search expressions containing certain 'regular expressions'. Regular expressions are codes that can be inserted in search queries to match patterns of text.
| ^string | Matches the text at the beginning of the string |
| string$ | Matches the text at the end of the string |
| . | Matches any single character (including special characters) |
| a* | Matches the sequence of zero or more of the specified character |
| a+ | Matches the sequence of one or more of the specified character |
| a? | Matches zero or one occurrence of the specified character |
| abc|def | Matches either one of the specified strings |
| [abc] | Matches any one of the specified characters |
Boolean Search
The Princeton Geniza Project database uses a boolean full-text search. This type of search allows users to combine keywords with operators to refine searches. Possible operators and examples of their use:
| מולאנא מולאי | Search for rows that contain either of two words by simply typing them consecutively. In this case, the search will find documents that contain either מולאי or מולאנא. |
| כתאבי +מולאי+ | Use a + sign before word to search for rows that contain all of them (in this case the words כתאבי and מולאי) |
| כתאבי AND מולאי כתאבי OR מולאי | The keyword AND indicates that both search terms must be present in the results. OR matches either search term. |
| כתאב –כתאבה | Use a - sign to exclude a term from your results (in this case, the search will include כתאב but exclude כתאבה) |
| *כתאב ?כתאב |
Use an asterisk or a question mark as a wildcard. An asterix matches any number of characters. A question mark matches any single character |
Join: T-S Ar.18(2).193 + T-S 24.21 + ENA NS 10.31 + T-S Ar.30.306 + T-S Ar.30.314
T-S Ar.18(2).193
Recto/verso: recto
Section:
Letter from Araḥ b. Natan (aka Musāfir b. Wahb), in Alexandria, to the Nagid Mevorakh, in Fustat. The sender and addressee are not named in the letter, but Frenkel identified them on the basis of handwriting and content. Dating: toward the end of Mevorakh's tenure as nagid (1094–1111; Frenkel). This long letter, written between the lines of the Arabic text on recto, mentions disputes in the Jewish community, especially an ongoing dispute with the Maghribi community over the payment of the capitation tax. The Banū Naḥum family is involved (a well-known family from Alexandria). The letter also expresses the dissatisfaction of the community with its muqaddam. Araḥ functions in the letter as the 'nā'ib' (deputy) of the Nagid in Alexandria. (Another interpretation of the word niyāba in line 31 would be that "they [Araḥ's enemies] have destroyed the community in the name of representing you.") In a postscript, Araḥ reports to the Nagid how he dealt with a case of a widow who was exploited. Araḥ complains in passing about the severe illness that he contracted while traveling (lines 14–15), perhaps to support his self-presentation as someone who takes care of the community despite all that it costs him. Information in part from Frenkel. Note that this letter is written on an enormous sheet of paper that originally contained an Arabic state document, subsequently reused for a copy of Shemuel b. Ḥofni's Kitāb al-Shurūṭ on verso, and ultimately torn up and reused for this letter and other documents. Joins: T-S Ar.18(2).193 + T-S Ar.30.306 + T-S Ar.30.314: Marina Rustow. T-S 24.21: recorded in FGP from the Sussman Talmud catalogue.
Ed. Miriam Frenkel, The Compassionate and Benevolent: The Leading Elite in the Jewish Community of Alexandria in the Middle Ages (in Hebrew) (2006). With minor emendations by Alan Elbaum (2020).
Type: Letter
T-S 24.21
Recto/verso: recto
Section:
State document in Arabic script, an internal memorandum or report containing multiple hands. Containing (on the last fragment) the signature of the vizier Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad (441 AH/1049–50 CE). The dating is discussed in Stern's article and should be considered definite; it is also corroborated by the caliph's name. The Arabic text is written in five different hands, reflecting administrative procedure. NB: This is a continuous join: T-S Ar.18(2).193 + T-S Ar.30.306 + T-S Ar.30.314. Whether T-S 24.21 and ENA NS 10.31 also join is less clear: they were reused by the same scribe for the same text, but may not have been part of the same state document. If they were, the first two fragments don't join continuously with the last three. Between the lines on recto is a Judaeo-Arabic letter (see separate record, PGPID 16773). On verso is Shemuʾel b. Ḥofni's Kitāb Aḥkām al-Shurūṭ, parallel to the text in SP RNL Evr-Arab. I 2938 fol. 3b. (Information from CUDL and Marina Rustow.) Joins: Marina Rustow.
Ed. and trans. Geoffrey Khan, Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah Collections (1993). T-S Ar.30.314 only; also ed. and trans. Marina Rustow, "Fatimid State Documents," Jewish History 32, no. 2 (2019) https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Oct9VRZYYHwsZ06EbdiWxAsiB2i0Yg7FOyL1-cEYUU/edit?usp=sharing; also ed. and trans. S. M. Stern, "Three Petitions of the Fāṭimid Period," Oriens 15 (1962). T-S Ar.30.314 only.
Type: State document
