Trade was an important source of income for the people of Alodia. Soba served as a trading hub with north-south and east-west trade routes; goods arrived in the kingdom from Makuria, the Middle East, western Africa, India and China. Trade with Makuria probably ran through the Bayuda Desert, following Wadi Abu Dom or Wadi Muqaddam, while another route went from near Abu Hamad to Korosko in Lower Nubia. A route going east originated around Berber near the confluence of the Nile and the Atbara, terminating in Badi, Suakin and Dahlak. Merchant Benjamin of Tudela mentions a route heading west, going from Alodia to Zuwila in Fezzan. Archaeological evidence for trade with Ethiopia is virtually absent, although trading relations are suggested by other evidence. Trading with the outside world was handled predominantly by Arab merchants. Muslim merchants were recorded as having traversed Nubia, some living in a district in Soba.