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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 |
T-S 6J4.20
Letter from a woman, in an unknown location, to her brother ʿAṭiyya b. Yehuda b. Sulaymān and to her widowed sister’s son Manṣūr b. Avraham, in the square of the perfumers, probably Fustat. (The two addressees—nephew and brother—evidently live together.) In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. Dating: Perhaps 12th century. She describes her distress—crying, fasting, blind (probably with tears), sitting in the corner, fire in the heart—ever since the nephew departed and she learned he was sick. She exhorts him not to worry or take on mental suffering (hamm), because that would be dangerous in his state. Then she switches to addressing her brother, whom she exhorts “by our upbringing and the breast which we suckled, do not neglect my nephew Manṣūr, for he is the one who protected me... he and his brother. Write me a response to this letter and cool my heart from the severity of its fire, for if you were to see me, you would not recognize me from my worry and distress.... I have sworn not to break my fast until you write me the response to this letter. And peace.” (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE
Editor: Ed. Alan Elbaum, (2022).
Library: CUL
Type: Letter