The city of Timbuktu was at the height of its importance in the Islamic world during the 13th and 14th centuries  as a trading post between West Africa and Europe and as a center of scholarship. Many of the texts used by Islamic diplomats who traveled between Timbuktu and Mecca, teach conflict resolution and tolerance.  We do not know a great deal about this city and its time.  These paintings reflect a past time deleted by the desert sand, but still alive.