The pepper that filled the pepper pot was grown in India. There were extensive trading links between the Romans and the peoples of the east. Spices were transported from India to the Red Sea, across the desert to the Nile and then from Egypt traded around the Roman empire by river, sea and land. Other routes may have come through Palmyra in Syria. Many Roman coins and pottery and glass fragments have been found in southern India, suggesting trade in manufactured goods and wine.