Final answer:
The student's question focuses on prohibitions related to cultural and religious practices intended to maintain distinct group identities and social order in various historical contexts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The prohibitions described in the student's question pertain to various cultural and religious practices imposed upon certain groups by ruling entities throughout history to maintain control, social order, and delineate cultural boundaries. These rules and prohibitions often centered around avoiding actions or displays that could be seen as aligning with or imitating the dominant group or conflicting with their norms. Examples include restrictions on the public expression of a subdued group's faith, cultural imitations, and engagement in activities considered pure or taboo by the ruling culture. Such mandates span a wide historical and cultural spectrum, from the detailed obligations of non-Muslims in Islamic territories to practices dictated by divination in Chinese culture, and from ancient Hebrew purity laws to the rites of initiation into certain Greco-Roman religious mysteries.