In Genesis, what was Noah told to build the ark from?

In Genesis, Noah was told to build the ark from gopher wood.

Genesis 6:14 gives this unusual material name in the instruction to construct the ark. It also says the vessel should be made with rooms and coated inside and outside with pitch. Unlike familiar biblical woods such as cedar, the identity of gopher wood is not securely known.

Proposals have included cypress and other resinous woods, often because they might suit shipbuilding or waterproofing. None is established as the certain meaning of the ancient term. English translations generally preserve the phrase “gopher wood” rather than translating it into a definite modern species. That uncertainty is why the material is a useful distinction from the ark’s waterproofing substance, which Genesis names separately as pitch.