Sirin

thumb|Sirin lubok print, 18th century Sirin () is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl), borrowed from the siren of the Greek mythology. According to myth, the Sirin lived in Iriy or around the Euphrates River.

== History == The legend of Sirin might have been introduced to the Rus' by Persian merchants in the 8th–9th centuries. In the cities of Chersonesos and Kiev she is often found on pottery, golden pendants, even on the borders of Gospel books of the 10th–12th centuries. Due to this history, Russian culture has experienced a very strong correlation with the Byzantine Empire through its steppes, the Volga River and Dnieper River. Pomors often depicted Sirin on the illustrations in the Book of Genesis as birds sitting in paradise trees.