. ▁It ▁is ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁largest ▁areas ▁of ▁Bib lic al ▁criticism ▁in ▁terms ▁of ▁the ▁she er ▁amount ▁of ▁information ▁it ▁addresses . ▁The ▁roughly ▁ 9 0 0 ▁manuscript s ▁found ▁at ▁Q um ran ▁include ▁the ▁oldest ▁ext ant ▁manuscript s ▁of ▁the ▁Heb rew ▁Bible . ▁They ▁represent ▁every ▁book ▁except ▁Est her , ▁though ▁most ▁are ▁fragment ary . ▁The ▁New ▁Testament ▁has ▁been ▁preserved ▁in ▁more ▁manuscript s ▁than ▁any ▁other ▁ancient ▁work , ▁having ▁over ▁ 5 , 8 0 0 ▁complete ▁or ▁fragment ed ▁Greek ▁manuscript s , ▁ 1 0 , 0 0 0 ▁Latin ▁manuscript s ▁and ▁ 9 , 3 0 0 ▁manuscript s ▁in ▁various ▁other ▁ancient ▁languages ▁including ▁Sy ri ac , ▁S lav ic , ▁Goth ic , ▁Eth iop ic , ▁Co ptic ▁and ▁Armen ian . ▁The ▁dates ▁of ▁these ▁manuscript s ▁range ▁from ▁c . 1 1 0 — 1 2 5 ▁( the ▁ ▁pap yrus ) ▁to ▁the ▁introduction ▁of ▁printing ▁in ▁Germany ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 5 th ▁century . ▁ ▁There ▁are ▁also ▁a ▁million ▁New ▁Testament ▁quot ations ▁in ▁the ▁collected ▁writ ings ▁of ▁the ▁Church ▁F athers ▁of ▁the ▁first ▁four ▁centuries . ▁As ▁a ▁comparison , ▁the ▁next ▁best - s our ced ▁ancient ▁text ▁is ▁H omer ' s ▁I li ad , ▁which ▁is ▁ ▁found ▁in ▁more ▁than ▁ 1 , 9 0 0 ▁manuscript s , ▁though ▁many ▁are ▁of ▁a ▁fragment ary ▁nature