Bam sits in one of Iran's most productive date palm oases, and the groves that surround the city — thousands of tall, feathery palms rising from the desert floor — are a significant part of what the place looks like and feels like. The oasis is fed by ancient qanats (underground irrigation channels) that channel water from the mountain aquifers to the surface across many kilometres, a system of water management that has sustained agriculture in this arid region for over two thousand years.
The dates produced in the Bam region are considered among the finest in Iran, particularly the Mazafati variety: soft, dark, sweet, with a date palm quality quite different from the dried dates sold in export markets. In the harvest season (August to September), the groves are busy with pickers, and fresh dates can be bought directly from farm stalls along the roads around the city. A walk or drive through the palm groves around the Arg-e Bam is a good way to see the agricultural landscape that made the city wealthy and strategically important for two millennia.