Minas Arthor, once the capital of Arnach, was situated on the Crossings of the Erui, where there had been a settlment for as long as chronicles could tell. The town was founded in the early Third Age, and soon became the center for the prosperous agricultural district around the Celos and the Erui. The Battle at the Crossings of Erui, where Eldacar of Gondor's returning host defeated and killed the Usurper Castamir, was fought just outside Minas Arthor. To commemorate the battle, a large mound was raised on the battlefield called the Hill of Remembrance; every year on the battle day a deeply moving ceremony was held there in which all the dead—loyalists as well as traditionalists — were mourned.Minas Arthor itself did not suffer any damage during the Kin-strife, and continued to prosper un