He told Express.co.uk: “Using a series of clues from the works of Flavius Josephus, archeologists in 2007 were able to unearth the tomb of one of the most famous kings in the Bible: Herod the Great.
“King Herod, who ruled Judea from Jerusalem, is most renowned in the Bible for slaughtering the infants in Bethlehem and the surrounding villages in an effort to kill Jesus, the newborn (and rival) King of the Jews.
“Herod’s megalomania extends outside the pages of the Bible with staggering accounts in the records of Josephus of him executing his wives and sons to protect his crown.”
In another blood-curdling account, Herod is said to have murdered his son, Antipater, after he wrongly celebrated news of his father’s death.
However, in the end, Professor Meyer believes the king died a horrible and painful death.