Aḥmad al-Damanh r (1689-1778) and the Utility of Expertise in Early Modern Ottoman Egypt

Eighteenth-century Arabic manuscripts in the "uncommon sciences"-a range of mathematical, astronomical, astrological, medical, and divinatory practices-number in the thousands. In light of the economic and social upheaval over the eighteenth century this sustained production must be understood from perspectives of both intellectual and social history. Aḥmad al-Damanh r 's writings and his rise from rural orphan to head of al-Azhar Mosque suggest the role and value of expertise in the uncommon sciences, particularly as these fields brought religious scholars and ruling military elites into close relations. Precisely because the uncommon sciences bridged these two social classes, this expertise was important for individuals' social and intellectual formation. Recognizing the significance of the uncommon sciences for the history of this period offers a new reading of the work of the chronicler ʿAbd al-Raḥm n al-Jabart , who used language and exemplars from the uncommon sciences to reflect on the proper and just relationship between expertise (embodied by the religious scholarly class) and the emerging state.