It was a caste system with social levels sharply marked off, and families united by clannish ties.

The rich looked down on the poor, the merchants looked down on the artisans, and within the ranks of the artisans higher and lower grades were distinguished.

A shoemaker's daughter could not hope to marry the son of a shopkeeper, unless she brought an extra large dowry; and she had to make up her mind to be snubbed by the sisters-in-law and cousins-in-law all her life.
One qualification only could raise a man above his social level, and that was scholarship.

A boy born in the gutter need not despair of entering the houses of the rich, if he had a good mind and a great appetite for sacred learning.

A poor scholar would be preferred in the marriage market to a rich ignoramus.