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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 |
T-S Ar.7.27
Letter of appeal from an unknown man, in Bilbays, to Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. The writer had lived with Eliyyahu's son (Abū Zikrī) in Jerusalem. (Other letters to Eliyyahu from another one of Abū Zikrī's Jerusalem roommates have survived: see T-S 8J16.3 and T-S 8J16.3 by Avraham b. Rav Shelomo the Yemeni.) The writer gives his story. He was supporting himself from his store ('as your son will confirm'). He heard that his wife had died in Bilbays, so he leased the store and came to Bilbays. "God disciplined me with great discipline and with great illness 'from the illnesses of Egypt' and with a disease of the eyes." He lost all his money and "the money of others" (=his creditors?). He concludes with eloquent expressions of his shame in turning to Eliyyahu for help. "Due to the great shame and hardship and pain/illness, I have not turned to (afṣartu, from Hebrew הפציר) any Jew this Passover, and I have not gone to the synagogue, rather [I am] like a corpse in the grave. Do what you can according to your power and your righteousness." ASE
Library: CUL
