AMNA–An exhibition tentatively titled *quot;Byzantium – Masterpieces from Greek Collections*quot; will travel to the US in the autumn of 2013, containing some 300 masterpieces from Greek museums, public and private collections and monasteries, as well as finds from recent excavations, to be shown first at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, followed by the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California.

The exhibition, which will run through spring 2014, aims to familiarize the American public with the Hellenic civilization throughout the Byzantine era, and thus will cover all periods of Byzantine history, from 330 AD to 1453 AD.

Greeces Central Archaeology Council (KAS) on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for the organisation of the traveling archaeological exhibition, to be organised by the culture and tourism ministrys general directorate for Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum.

The exhibition will comprise five unities, tentatively titled *quot;From the Ancient to the Byzantine World*quot;, *quot;The Christian World*quot;, *quot;The Intellectuals*quot;, *quot;The Joys of Life*quot; and *quot;Byzantium at a Crossroads*quot;.

The exhibition is budgeted at 3.2 million euros, of which 2.5 million are in insurance premiums.

This event will be enhanced by a second, equally significant, exhibition being prepared in tandem by the ministry in collaboration with National Geographic magazine, which will pertain to the Ancient Greeks throughout the ages, from pre-historic times to the beginning of the Hellenistic Period.

The aim is for the second exhibition to coincide with the Masterpieces exhibition.