In Genesis, what kind of wood was Noah's Ark built from?

Genesis says that Noah's Ark was built from gopher wood.

The term appears in Genesis 6:14, where God instructs Noah to make the ark from “gopher wood” and coat it inside and outside with pitch. The Hebrew expression is traditionally transliterated as gopher, but its precise botanical meaning is uncertain.

Because no surviving ancient vessel has been identified as Noah's Ark, historians cannot connect the biblical term to a confirmed species of tree. Suggestions have included cypress and other durable conifers, but these remain interpretations rather than established facts.

A common mix-up is treating gopher wood as a familiar modern tree name. In most English Bibles it is left as a transliteration, reflecting the uncertainty. The same passage also gives the ark's dimensions and explains that it was divided into compartments.