Argel was a village in the territory of the Echmiadzin uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Ashtarak district, and present-day Kotayk province. It was located 29 km to the southwest of the provincial centre, 10 km to the north of the settlement of Arzini, to the right of the Zangi (Hrazdan) River and at a height of 1,400 m above sea level. The village was integrated into the former Nairi district from 1972. A alternative name for the village was Arkel.

The village was inhabited by 330 Azerbaijanis in 1873 and 11 Azerbaijanis in 1897. In the early 20th century the Azerbaijanis were deported from the village which was then inhabited by Armenians. In 1922 three Azerbaijanis lived there. The village was abolished after being merged with the village of Lusakert in 1953.

The toponym was coined by combining the words “ar” meaning “the north; the back part; the back side of a mountain which does not get direct sunlight” and “gel” meaning “a lake” in Old Turkic. “Gel” is a phonetic variation of “gol”.