Java: Rationale of the Object class not being declared abstract

Question

Why wasn\'t the java.lang.Object class declared to be abstract ?

Surely for an Object to be useful it needs added state or behaviour, an Object class is

Answer 1

You can instantiate Object for synchronization locks:

Object lock = new Object();

void someMethod() {
  //safe stuff
  synchronized(lock) {
     //some code avoiding race condition
  }
}

void someOtherMethod() {
  //safe code
  synchronized(lock) {
    //some other stuff avoiding race condition
  }
}