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 |
ENA 4011.38
Draft of a request addressed to Sayyidnā. Written in an unusual combination of Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic in Arabic script: ينعم سيدنا يعرفني ما בקי ללשיך פל في الشهادة الذي بيده مكتتبة בערכאות של גוים עלי בן פל بميتين(؟) וכמסון דרהמא ונצף והי עלי ימין פל . . . . The sender wishes to know how much is still owed to 'so-and-so' by 'the son of so-and-so' according to a deed of debt from the Muslim courts originally for 50.5 (or 250.5?) dirhams. On verso there is a similar note in a mixture of Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic in Arabic script, along with a draft of a beginning of a Jewish legal deed dated Ṭevet 1559 Seleucid, which is 1247/48 CE. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)
