The original books of the Hebrew Bible written by the original author is called an autograph. These autographs were written on animal skins or papyrus (a type of paper made from reed plants) and because these writing materials deteriorate over time it would be unlikely we will ever uncover an original autograph from the Hebrew Bible. In order to preserve the text the scroll is copied over and over again, these copies are called manuscripts. We must rely on these manuscripts for the text but as they occasionally differ in their wording it is necessary to use a process called textual criticism to uncover the original wording of the text.