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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 |
AIU VII.D.90
Legal document draft of a debt contract ("shtar/שטר," l. 7, 13) recording financial arrangments where Spanish Seville-minted reales "ריאליס שיבילייאנוס" are in use (l.4r). The location of the document's recording may be Dimyat (Damietta) which is denoted (l.2r) with the Aramaic place name "קפוטקייא" (Kapotakia). The next line mentions Avraham Menashshe, a resident of Damietta. In the body of the draft document, just before the middle section is crossed out, the names Shabbetay ha-Kohen and Mordechai Suriano appear (l.7). A reading of the date could be roughly 1834 CE (first third of Cheshvan 5595) yet it appears more likely that the Jewish calendar year/month is Cheshvan 5489 (l.6, 21) or roughly October 1728CE (this dating is closer to the Judeo-Arabic accounts in the same shelfmark and the alphanumerical digit "ה" can be cross-referenced with the with the same ligature, for example, in "השטר" (l.13). Possibly a scribe or Shemuel Rolo himself signs at the bottom of the document and within his signature we find the title "שליח" (l.24-25). The other pages on the recto and verso are filled with neatly organized accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, arranged according to the Islamic calendar and giving many names of Muslims such as Muhammed ʿAbd al-ʿĀtī (l. 5-6r, 28-29r) Mustafa al-Qabānī (l.13-14v). The accounts seem to be dated 26[?] Safar 1143 Hijri on the recto (where the Persianate rendering of the number 4 or ۴ is in use) which converts roughly to September 1730CE. MCD.
Library: AIU
Type: Legal document
