Thank you for responding. If you are correct (and I know of no reason why you wouldn't be) then that would seem to solve the problem of why MoS did not become a wraith. This must have been the "evil knowledge" the Black Numenoreans sought from Sauron. And perhaps MoS was not the only Black Numenorean to have lived so long, but merely the only one we hear about.
Anyway, here is a link to the page where someone suggested the Dwarf-Ring theory:
The Third Realm In Exile
Just scroll down to the passage headed "The last of the Black Numenoreans".
There is no evidence to support this theory, it is once again just a futile exercise of "grasping at straws".
Oh, and I didn't like the reason they gave for MoS not becoming a wraith, hence my own theory as posted above differs somewhat from theirs, though the idea that he bore a Dwarven Ring and that he was kind of like Gollum comes from them.
I actually prefer the idea that a ring was not required, I just wasn't sure it was possible for him to live that long without one. But now that you mention it, it makes sense that the same power that was concentrated in the rings could be used without the medium of such a device. But was Sauron still so powerful, even after using much of his sorcerous might to empower the One?
[ February 02, 2003: Message edited by: Mouth of Sauron ]