In Genesis, what type of wood was Noah instructed to use for the Ark?

Genesis says Noah was instructed to build the Ark from gopher wood.

The wording appears in Genesis 6:14, where God tells Noah to make the vessel from gopher wood and coat it inside and outside with pitch. “Gopher” is not identified elsewhere in the Bible, so its exact botanical meaning remains uncertain.

Some translations preserve the Hebrew expression as “gopher wood,” while others have proposed cypress, resinous wood, or timber generally. No identification has achieved universal acceptance. This makes “gopher wood” the safest canonical answer when the question follows the wording of Genesis.

The Ark account also specifies that the vessel had compartments, a window, and a door. Later Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions expand the story, but the material name in the biblical account comes from Genesis rather than from those later interpretations.