Although there is a growing body of literature treating the human networks and cultural projects connecting the Ottoman capital to its provinces in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, provincial integration in earlier periods is often seen as a predominantly bureaucratic and legal affair. My paper aims to offer an account of the social and cultural aspects of Ottoman incorporation by examining encounters between Rumis and abn?' al-‘arab in social gatherings in sixteenth-century Damascene homes. Held in the reception rooms and gardens of Ottoman residences, these gatherings (often referred to as maj?lis, sing. majlis) were key venues for the exchange of ideas, the establishment of patronage networks, and the performance of power. This took on particular significance in the context of an expanding empire: as one of the main points of entry into a new locale for Ottomans on the move, privately-held social gatherings often became important spaces for cultural and political encounters. How did local residents and appointed officials, often with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, meet within these spaces? How did governors and qadis, as new arrivals within a vibrant and sophisticated intellectual community, use them to assert their authority? What were the rules that governed these encounters, and how were these rules established by a heterogenous group of participants? Sixteenth-century Ottoman sociability is more than a mere curiosity: travel accounts, biographical dictionaries, and etiquette manuals all testify to the importance of proper behavior, polite conversation, and intellectual acuity for garnering respect, exerting power, and securing appointments. By examining the etiquette, the attendees, and the intellectual exchanges of social gatherings in Damascene homes, I hope to shed light on the complex social and cultural dynamics governing the early period of Ottoman rule in Bil?d al-Sh?m.