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 4096.g
Letter to David ha-Nasi the Exilarch. He is also addressed as al-Rayyis. Written in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that he arrived safely in Alexandria on Friday after 10 very difficult days of travel over sea and over land from Rashīd to Alexandria. On Shabbat, the travelers gathered in the great synagogue of Alexandria and recited blessings over their good fortune. It seems that ʿUlla Rosh ha-Qahal then invited the writer to his house. The writer expresses his gratitude for other distinguished Alexandrians who treated him well. The letter becomes damaged and difficult to read around here. On verso there are pen trials including of the name Yeshuʿa b. Avraham.
