In Genesis’s Noah’s Ark account, what wood was the ark built from?

Genesis’s Noah’s Ark account says the ark was built from gopher wood.

The instruction appears in Genesis 6:14, where God tells Noah to make an ark from “gopher wood” and coat it with pitch. The Hebrew term is traditionally transliterated as gopher, but its exact botanical identity is uncertain.

Because of that uncertainty, “gopher wood” is the safest canonical answer. Some translations and commentators have proposed cypress, cedar, or another resinous timber, but none has been established as the definite species meant by the ancient Hebrew word.

The ark’s stated construction details include compartments, waterproofing with pitch, and multiple levels. These details belong specifically to the biblical narrative and should not be confused with later artistic reconstructions or proposed archaeological identifications.