ʿAnṣara <(Syr. ʿĔṣartā < Heb. ʿĔṣeret) is the name of several festivals in various parts of Egypt, al-Andalus, and the Maghrib. For Egyptian Copts, it is the festival of Pentecost. In Andalusī Arabic, the festival was called al-ʿÃnṣara (Old Castilian Alhansara or Alhanzara) and was celebrated on Saint John's day by both Christians and Muslims, with the building of bonfires and the performing of rites involving water. In Morocco and Algeria, l-ʿAnṣṛa (in Berber, lʿAnṣart/lʿAnṣart̲) occurs at the time of the summer solstice-on