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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: BL OR 12369.8 + BL OR 12369.7
BL OR 12369.8
Recto/verso:
Section:
12369.7 and 8 are drafts of several Judaeo-Arabic letters and documents by Yisrael al-Gevili (אלגוילי) writing in Cairo it seems circa 1755/6 CE (the lower segment on recto of 12369.7 mentions the year [5]516; the second digit could also be a ר, making the date 1855/6, but it is closer to his ק and the fonducli - an Ottoman coin - would be more likely to be circulating in Egypt in 1756 than 1856.) Recto: Draft of a letter to his brother. His brother seems to have gotten upset about the lack of letters from Yisrael and the lack of any shipment of goods or money. Yisrael apologizes and says he had intended to send them sooner, but encountered various difficulties including with selling the goods. However he plans to send everything on Monday. Verso: Draft of a letter to his brother regarding business matters. Yisrael reports on the status and likely price of the goods that his brother had sent to him with Murād al-Jawharjī. He orders Indian textiles because the demand this year is very high, as none of the ḥajj pilgrims brought any textiles with them. Verso of 12369.7 is another draft of the same letter. ASE.
Type: Letter
BL OR 12369.7
Recto/verso:
Section:
12369.7 and 8 are drafts of several Judaeo-Arabic letters and documents by Yisrael al-Gevili (אלגוילי) writing in Cairo it seems circa 1755/6 CE (the lower segment on recto mentions the year [5]516; the second digit could also be a ר, making the date 1855/6, but it is closer to his ק and the fonducli - an Ottoman coin - would be more likely to be circulating in Egypt in 1756 than 1856.) Upper segment of recto: Some sort of testimony, perhaps that the Shaykh al-Islām Naṣr al-Dīn Abū Zayn al-Dī al-Iskandarānī pledges to pay a sum of 120 to al-Ḥajj Muṣṭafa in the Gamaliyya neighborhood. Lower segment of recto: Documentation that Yūsuf al-Ḥarīrī who is living in the wakāla of al-Fayyūmī has paid the price for the courtyard and the apartment, and then something to do with six months of payments involving al-Ḥajj Muṣṭafa al-Ramlāwī. Verso: Draft of a letter to his brother regarding business matters. Yisrael reports on the status and likely price of the goods that his brother had sent to him with Murād al-Jawharji. He orders Indian textiles because the demand this year is very high, as none of the ḥajj pilgrims brought any textiles with them. Verso of 12369.8 is another draft of the same letter. ASE.
Type: Letter
