Deep beneath the desert plateau of Saqqara, a row of colossal stone boxes has become a lightning rod for anyone convinced that ancient Egypt once wielded a level of technology we no longer understand.

A $2.3 million restoration is using advanced laser technology to clean and preserve the 1,840-year-old Rome’s Column of Marcus Aurelius.

New research has recently shaken up the long-held ideas about how the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramids. While the traditional belief suggests the massive stone blocks were hauled up massive ...