In his Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages, Ira M. Lapidus described the occupations of the middle and lower classes of Damascus during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries:

Al-'amma proper, sometimes called al-'ammat al nas (common members of the nas [people]), as if to emphasize a degree of respectability, were the trading and working people of the cities. They were the shopkeepers, retailers and artisans, taxpayers, men known and accessible, the honest toilers. Some were of recognized social importance. Middle-class retailers were made responsible for fiscal and monetary measures taken by the regime. Skilled craftsmen such as carpenters, masons, and marble workers were awarded the prized Sultan's robes of honor on the completion of important projects. Other commoners variously called ba'a, suqa, mutaayyishun, or mutasabbibun, who were food dealers, artisans, workers and peddlers, made up the remainder of this...