Rules and Practices of General Average in the Islamic Mediterranean on the Eve of the Emergence of the Italian Communes

This essay underlines the rules of jettison and the financial settlements arising from losses at sea. Muslim jurists did not hold a consensus as regards the jetsam’s value and offered four legal opinions: based on the its cost at the market place from which it was purchased, at market place of the port of embarkation, the nearest port where they were jettisoned, or on its price at the destined port. However, as for the time, the great majority of jurists agreed on calculating the jetsam’s value at the market prices on the day of embarkation rather than the day of purchase. The paper also demonstrates that the ship was subject to contribution and how was it valued. The same applies to the freight charges; human cargo was treated as commodities.