In the Noah's Ark story, what type of wood was the ark made from?

In the Noah’s Ark story, the ark was made from gopher wood. Genesis uses this unusual expression when God instructs Noah to build the vessel before the flood.

The exact identity of gopher wood is uncertain. “Gopher” appears only in this passage of the Hebrew Bible, and no surviving ancient botanical name can be matched with confidence. For that reason, translations usually preserve the phrase as “gopher wood” rather than replacing it with a securely identified modern tree.

Some translations and commentators have proposed cypress, cedar, or another durable timber, but these are interpretations rather than established identifications. The passage also instructs Noah to cover the ark with pitch inside and out, making it watertight. The wood specification is therefore a textual detail, while its precise species remains unresolved.