In the Noah’s Ark story, what material was used to build the ark?

The Noah’s Ark story says that the ark was built from gopher wood. Genesis 6:14 gives this unusual material name when God instructs Noah to construct the vessel.

The exact identity of gopher wood is unknown. “Gopher” appears only in this passage of the Hebrew Bible, so translators have not been able to connect it securely to a known tree species. Some translations preserve the phrase, while others use wording such as “cypress wood” or “resinous wood.”

That translation variation is why “cedar” or “cypress” can appear in discussions of the ark, but “gopher wood” is the traditional English rendering of the Genesis text. The passage also says the ark was to be coated inside and outside with pitch, making the vessel watertight.