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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: Bodl. MS heb. b. 18/23 + ENA 3974.3
Bodl. MS heb. b. 18/23
Recto/verso: recto and verso
Section:
Petition to the Fatimid ruler Sitt al-Mulk from an official of a congregational mosque, perhaps the chief khaṭīb. This is probably the final copy of the petition. It has to do with delayed payments to the deputy khaṭīb Mūsā b. Azhar, since the tenants of the pious foundation (ḥabs) of the mosque have fallen in arrears and owe about ten dinars for the period ending Rajab 415 AH (September 1024). He requests that a decree (manshūr, line 11: literally, an open letter, a decree without a seal) be issued to the governor (ʿāmil) and administrator (mutawallī) of the district that housed the mosque asking them to help the deputy, Mūsā b. Azhar by supporting his efforts to extract payment from the tenants; by sending him money directly; and by generally enforcing the terms of the trust. On verso is a series of Hebrew biblical verses (Zach. 3:5–4:9) with the Aramaic translation (targum) added after each verse; the scribe has glued together these two petitions to form a single rotulus, suggesting that the Arabic documents may have survived together in an archive. The Arabic-script side of the fragment is missing a triangle of paper at the top that has remained attached to ENA 3974.3. Information from Marina Rustow's analysis and edition. A note on images: The FGP image of the Arabic side acquired from the Bodleian has cut off a few lines of the Arabic text and needs to be replaced. The image in Rustow, BSOAS 2010, is complete, but in black and white. The fragment was later rephotographed in color for Rustow, "The Fatimid Petition," Jewish History 2019. The FGP photo of the Hebrew-script side is complete.
Note that the main Arabic-script documents on ENA 3974.3 and Bodl. MS heb. b. 18/23 do not join with each other.
Ed. Marina Rustow, "A Petition to a Woman at the Fatimid Court (1022–23 CE)," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 73, no. 1 (2010) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SvOyFctUKjr4TgO7HuKBh9Gil1dfwnvldVxKhspeghY/edit?usp=sharing.
Type: State document
ENA 3974.3
Recto/verso: verso
Section:
Petition to Sitt al-Mulk from Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan complaining that a local amir has confiscated his grain, 411–14/1021–24. See under PGPID 19304 for explanation of the join. Note that the main Arabic-script documents on ENA 3974.3 and Bodl. MS heb. b. 18/23 do not join with each other.
Ed. and trans. Marina Rustow, "The Fatimid Petition," Jewish History 32 (2019) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sC4IL601LLv76UuM8KhaDfxWfjTlFHnJtz1YeB_1EuI/edit?usp=sharing.
Type: State document
