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It is not clear when the idea of ice cream exactly developed. However, already by the 2nd millennium BC, around 1800 BC, records from the ancient Near East state of Mari indicate ice was being collected for refreshment during the hot months. An ice house was built in the city of Terqa, suggesting the ice would be stored there during the winter months, when it may have been brought down from the mountains, and then stored in the ice house. In China, at about the same time, a flavored ice was known that resembles modern sherbet, where fruit would be frozen and flavored with honey or other sweet tastes. By the Achaemenid Persian period, around 500 BC, the Persians are depicted as using a type of grape concentrate which they would then mix with ice to create a cold, grape flavored treat. They would also use honey to give it a sweet taste. This seems to have been introduced to the Greeks after the invasion of Alexander, where records indicate the Greeks were doing similar things soon after Alexander arrived in the region.

Similar ice flavored treats continued in the Roman period. In the mountains of Italy, ice harvesters would be sent to get ice during the colder months and the ice would then be brought to Rome or other cities. Ice houses, which had sometimes underground chambers to keep the cool, were used to preserve the ice. The ice, when it was consumed, was flavored with fruits and juices to create something akin to what we would call a slushy (i.e., mostly flavored ice).  It was only in the 16th century that the texture of what we call ice cream began to appear. By this time or perhaps in the 16th century, flavored ice was mixed with milk and cream. Eventually, when sugar came from the New World, that was then also mixed with the flavored ice, milk, and cream combination. The use of cream mixed with ice helped create the name "ice cream" or "iced cream" as it was initially know. This innovation probably came via Italy and France, where from there it spread to the rest of Europe. However, having ice required having ice houses, which were not common. Thus it was mostly a royal type of treat or consumed by upper elites of society and not widely available.