The bound codex book form likely originated in Iran.

Evidence

We are on stronger ground in ascribing to Persians—and here we come back to the theme of cultural history—the book, that is the book in the form of a codex. The Greco-Roman world used scrolls, and so did much of the ancient Middle East. The codex, stitched and bound in the form which we now know as a book, seems to have originated in Iran. The cultural impact of such an innovation was obviously immense. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 299

Categorization

• QUESTION: Contested claim worth checking — standard history usually credits early Christians adopting the codex. Would like to see the evidence.
• SHARE: Send to a book-history friend who’d love this Persian-origin-of-the-codex claim.