teaginthedragon:

Does anyone here on tumblr do Persian or Northern African garb and knows some good places for buying some nice period brocades? I’ve been looking everywhere and I’ve had no luck. 

This isn’t a commercial site, but it’s a nice collection of pictures of period fabrics that you could use to compare modern brocades to:
http://home.earthlink.net/~anahita.al-fassiya/16th_C_flowers/16-17_C_flowers.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~anahita.al-fassiya/16th_C_figurative/16th_C_fig.html

The Met has a collection too:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/safa_3/hd_safa_3.htm

Spoonflower looks to have some designs that could work:
http://www.spoonflower.com/tags/persian

Good luck!

Arabic Medieval Documents for Scroll Texts

Does anyone have any sources for translated Arabic medieval documents to base scroll texts on? I’ve been trying to find something suitable for hours and I don’t know if I just don’t have the right search terms or what but I’m driving myself nuts. Any help would be appreciated!

Check out these books for English translations of period Arabic literature/documents:

Classic Arabic Literature: A Library of Arabic Literature Anthology
by New York University Press, 2012
Includes verse and prose
http://books.google.com/books?id=rpM266Jd4OoC&dq=Classical+And+Medieval+Arabic+Literature+English&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Medieval Arabic Praise Poetry: Ibn al-Rumi and the patron’s redemption
Beatrice Gruendler, 2013
The concept of “praise poetry” (qit’ah) seems like it could be really cool if adapted to scroll texts. Yay for poetic texts! Using resources like this to get a sense of rhyme/meter could be helpful.
http://books.google.com/books?id=OJJmAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Medieval+Arabic+Literature+English&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Mgb1U8rfMMn8yQTcoILwDQ&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false

From Al-Andalus to Khurasan: Documents from the Medieval Muslim World
Petra Sijpesteijn, 2007
This has some translations of court proceedings/documents, but nothing that resembles a grant of arms or anything. It still may be useful for sentence structure and whatnot.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ovnVttnmMYgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Medieval+Arabic+documents&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cAb1U8umG4uBygTstYHQDg&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Geoffrey Khan (1990). The historical development of the structure of medieval Arabic petitions. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 53, pp 8-30. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00021224. 

A Collection of Medieval Arabic Documents in the Islamic Museum at the Ḥaram Al-Šarīf
Linda S. Northrup and Amal A. Abul-Hajj
Arabica
T. 25, Fasc. 3 (Sep., 1978), pp. 282-291
Published by: BRILL
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4056411
You can sign up for a free JSTOR account and read this online. 😀

An Arabic Document of Acknowledgement from the Cairo Genizah
Geoffrey Khan
Journal of Near Eastern Studies
Vol. 53, No. 2 (Apr., 1994), pp. 117-124
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/546077
Another JSTOR – This might be the closest thing to a scroll text.

Medieval Sourcebook: Turkish Poetry
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/turkishpoetry1.html

Beeswax Candles

Frith, J., Appleby, R., Stacey, R., & Heron, C. (January 01, 2004). Sweetness and light: chemical evidence of beeswax and tallow candles at Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire.Medieval Archaeology, 48, 220-228.
http://www.worldcat.org/title/sweetness-and-light-chemical-evidence-of-beeswax-and-tallow-candles-at-fountains-abbey-north-yorkshire/oclc/108412065

Sweetness and light: the mysterious history of the honeybee, by Hattie Ellis, 2010
http://books.google.com/books?id=NJvwAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA211&dq=medieval+beeswax+candles&hl=en&sa=X&ei=t7vzU_KpNJLYoATj3oHgDQ&ved=0CGoQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=medieval%20beeswax%20candles&f=false

Medieval Candle-Making Class, by Hl Cathus the Curious (Keith Roberts)
Video has a comment re: using beeswax in molds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1lDdsgVaZk

All Things Medieval: An Encyclopedia of the Medieval World (2 volumes) by Ruth A. Johnston, 2011.
Link to page discussing beeswax candles
http://books.google.com/books?id=yPcIuJ5TNxMC&lpg=PA450&ots=lZllyFw11j&dq=medieval%20beeswax%20candles&pg=PA450#v=onepage&q&f=false

Stairway to Heaven: The Function of Medieavl Upper Spaces by Toby Huitson, 2014
Link to page about lighting; cites beeswax candles c. 1250.
http://books.google.com/books?id=NJvwAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA211&dq=medieval+beeswax+candles&hl=en&sa=X&ei=t7vzU_KpNJLYoATj3oHgDQ&ved=0CGoQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=medieval%20beeswax%20candles&f=false

Chinese Name Resources

Period Chinese Names (by Valerie L. Putman/Yin Mei Li)
Includes introduction, background, basic practices, cautions, and lists of feminine names.
http://www.ida.net/users/valerie_lee/Octofoil/ChineseNames/

Chinese characters; their origin, etymology, history, classification and signification; a thorough study from Chinese documents (by Leon Wieger)
cited by the Academy of St. Gabriel
http://www.worldcat.org/title/chinese-characters-their-origin-etymology-history-classification-and-signification-a-thorough-study-from-chinese-documents/oclc/325356

A Chinese biographical dictionary (by Herbert Giles)
cited by the Academy of St. Gabriel
http://www.worldcat.org/title/chinese-biographical-dictionary-gu-jin-xing-shi-zu-pu/oclc/3722702

My country and my people (by Yutang Lin)
cited by the Academy of St. Gabriel
http://www.worldcat.org/title/my-country-and-my-people/oclc/412588

Acadmey of St. Gabriel search results for Chinese name articles (some are Japanese):