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. b 12/4
Copy of three court records concerning a dispute over a wall between two houses. Dated: 1102 CE. Details about the wall are given in lines 9, 11, 16, and 25–31. The records are bracketed by an introduction and a conclusion explaining the purpose of making these copies: [...] al-Lawwāz came to the court with these in hand and asked for them to be copied "lest they be lost." (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)
Record #1: Names mentioned: Yefet; the parnas ʿUlla b. Shemarya ha-Kohen; [...] b. Naḥum; Abū Manṣūr b. al-[...]; Sason. Witnesses (judges): [...] b. Moshe; Avraham b. Aharon he-Ḥaver; [...].
Record #2: Names mentioned: Binyamin b. [Avraham]; Yefet; Abū Manṣūr al-Zayyāt; Ibn al-Layth. Witnesses (judges): Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel (ha-Sefaradi); the ḥaver Yeḥezqel b. ʿEli ha-Kohen he-Ḥaver; Sason b. Natan.
Record #3: Names mentioned: Yefet; Netanel; Binyamin b. Avraham; Shela b. Eliyya. Witnesses (judges): Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel; Avraham b. Shemaʿya he-Ḥaver; Sason b. Natan; Avraham b. Aharon he-Ḥaver.
