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 NS J226
Bifolium from a court notebook. Dating: 1244 CE. Several entries.
(1) Valuation (taqwīm) of a dowry. Bride: Sitt al-Majd bt. ʿOvadya. Groom: Saʿadya b. Mevorakh. Dowry is valued at 120 dinars.
(2) Marriage of a divorcee or widow. Bride: Sitt al-Waqār bt. Yosef. Groom: ʿAfīf b. Elʿazar. Marriage payments: 2 + 20. He will provide for her son Khalaf for 5 years and for her daughter for 10 years. One witness: Shelomo b. Sar Shalom ha-Kohen.
(3) Draft of a bill of divorce. Husband: Yefet b. Elʿazar. Wife: Dhahab a freedwoman. The messenger is Yosef. "This miserable entry is submitted to the Nagid for approval" (yunʿim sayyidnā yuʿarrif mamlūkah). The superscription refers to a place called Minyat גימה(?).
(Information from Goitein's index cards.)
