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 |
Yevr.-Arab. II 1406
Legal document, Qaraite. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Sunday, 15 Iyyar 5418 AM, which is 1658 CE. Involves Aharon Rofe Rosh Mishmeret b. Elʿazar . . . ha-Ḥazzan and Avraham Qudsī Rosh Mishmeret b. Yaʿaqov Levi Qayyim. They donate 1000 half-silver pieces for the benefit of Jerusalem. The document goes into depth on the functioning of the mysterious institution of 'mishmarot' ('watches') of which these two men are heads. It may have to do with burial arrangements. Periods of 6 years and 12 years are mentioned. Needs examination.
