In the hierarchy of society within the Mamluk sultanate, the Mamluks themselves formed the elite who lived quite separately from the urban and rural populations. Contemporary society was astonishingly heterogeneous ethnically, religiously and even linguistically. In addition to the Mamluks, themselves of foreign, largely Turkish or Caucasian origin, Egypt accommodated significant communities of indigenous Egyptians and Arabs, Armenians, Syrians and Greeks. Sadly, comparatively little is known about the ordinary people of the Mamluk Empire, as the historical sources of the period tend to concentrate on the achievements of Mamluk sultans and their elite.