In the Genesis description of Noah’s Ark, the ark was built from gopher wood.
Genesis 6:14 instructs Noah to make the ark from “gopher wood” and to cover it inside and outside with pitch. The Hebrew expression is unusual and appears only in this passage, so its exact identification remains uncertain. Many translations preserve the phrase rather than naming a modern tree species.
Readers sometimes assume that gopher wood means cypress because some ancient and modern proposals connect the word with resinous trees. That identification is not established, however. The important textual fact is the phrase used in Genesis, not a securely identified botanical species. The ark was also divided into compartments, coated with pitch for waterproofing, and equipped with decks according to the same instructions.