Note the lower hand of King Ashur-nasir-pal II in the above stele. On the wrist is the sunburst symbol. On the right, the pagan sunburst is on the glove of Pope John XXIII. Clicking on the image of the stele will take you to the British Museum.
Why did the popes borrow so much from the PAGAN kings??
The depictions of the pagan kings on the ancient standing stones (stela) above, show a strip of cloth (lappet) hanging from the rear of the headgear. These lappets are also present on the papal mitre and tiara, shown at left, and partially visible in the photos of popes above.
dagon from the Hebrew
1712 Dagown daw-gohn' from 1709; the fish-god; Dagon, a Philistine deity: --Dagon.
Dagon = "a fish"
1) a Philistine deity of fertility; represented with the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish
The fish-like form was a symbol of fruitfulness, and as such was likely to be adopted by seafaring tribes in the representation of their gods, which is why Rome who ruled the seas easily adopted the mystery religion from the Philistines. Here we see carvings and diagrams of Dagon priests and their fish head hats along side the Pope with his similar fish head hat. The carving on the left shows the Dagon priests sprinkling holy water.
Your turn.