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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 Misc.25.9
Letter from Yiṣḥaq ha-Melammed ha-Bavli, in Bilbays, to Abū Isḥāq b. Bū l-Rabīʿ and a judge named Eliyya, in Fustat. (Goitein's index card says that the second addressee is not the famous judge Eliyyahu of the 13th century but rather a different Eliyya ha-Dayyan of the 14th century). In Judaeo-Arabic. Eliyya is asked to read the beginning of the letter to the sender's wife. The sender has been in Bilbays for a week or two, trying to persuade the congregation to formally appoint him as a teacher. "They are a flock with no shepherd, unable to discern good and bad." He will try for a little longer and urges his wife to stay put in Fustat. He inquires about conditions of travel from all the caravans arriving from al-Shām. Around this point of the letter he switches to addressing Abū Isḥāq and Eliyya and has many fulsome praises for the Nagid Avraham (II?) and sends regards to many community members in Fustat, including Sulaymān b. Abū l-ʿImrān al-Talmid. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) There are also a few words in Arabic script, possibly from a prior document.
Library: CUL
Type: Letter
