Biographical dictionaries and manuscript archives evidence marked attention over the 18th and early 19th centuries to what both ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti (1753-1825 CE) and Muhammad Khalil al-Muradi (d. 1791 CE) called al-‘ulum al-ghariba. Patrons, teachers, students, instrument makers and scribes actively cultivated their expertise in a range of mathematical, medical, astronomical and divinatory subjects. Traces of these individuals, circulating texts, commentaries, and their interrelationships may be analyzed to help us better understand the social and intellectual significance of these fields in the century prior to large-scale European conquest in the Middle East and North Africa. Careful analysis is called for by the scale of the material: thousands of extant manuscripts, and more than 160 individuals mentioned by al-Jabarti and al-Muradi. Moreover, this context provides new perspective on questions of subsequent reception and appropriation of scientific practitioners, texts and practices in the 19th century. This paper begins by presenting a database created from the biographies and events described by al-Jabarti and al-Muradi, supplemented by entries from manuscript catalogs. Entries document individuals, any known teachers, students or patrons, and manuscripts owned, copied, or commented upon. Queries may be organized around particular individuals, showing networks of students and teachers, or reconfigured to focus on a particular text and show owners, teachers, students, and writers of commentaries. The use of social network analysis applied to this database explores the potentials and limitations of this methodology for historical projects like this. Certainly, my database is not a complete or impartial record of the period; it relies especially heavily on al-Jabarti’s selection of individuals and inclusion of details. Network analysis allows me to compare the world of al-Jabarti’s relatively detailed references to that presented in al-Muradi’s biographies and from manuscript catalogs. At the same time, close reading of the cases where al-Jabarti, al-Muradi, or marginal comments have provided more detail allow us to access affective dimensions of this social and intellectual endeavor. In this way, this paper is informed by and contributes to digital humanities projects such as PROSOP, as well as the rich social history of the period. In the context of this panel, my paper highlights Mehmet Ali’s early 19th-century disruptions to earlier social networks, the increasing role of Ottoman intermediaries in the sciences in these Arab provinces, and the significance of this context for assessing the institutions and practices of globalized science later in the century.