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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 |
Bodl. MS heb. a 2/14
Recto (with address on verso): Letter in rhymed Hebrew prose and calligraphic script (which deteriorates over the course of the letter) to Mevorakh b. David ha-Bavli ("the leader of the Babylonian congregation," line 15) from Yehuda Sofer b. ʿEli. The main purpose seems to be to apologize for a failure to respond. The writer sends regards to Avraham ha-Rofe b. ʿEli. He adds a postscript in Judaeo-Arabic, asking Mevorakh to forward a letter to Abū ʿImrān b. Yaḥyā al-Raqqī, who it seems will then give Mevorakh a gift from the writer's son Abū l-Ḥasan. Verso: In a different hand, detailed accounts regarding transactions in lāsīn silk. The main block of text has to do with a purchase from Abū l-ʿAlā. The remaining text names many women, including the wife of Ibn Ghallāb; Sitt ʿAlam; Umm Faḍā'il; the daughter of Umm Dāwud; Umm ʿAzīza; and the sister of Tāj al-Maʿānī. ASE.
Library: Bodl.
Type: Letter
