in ancient stories, an imaginary bird that set fire to itself every 500 years and was born again, rising from its ashes (= the powder left after its body has been burned)不死鸟,凤凰(古代传说中的一种假想鸟,每500年自焚后重生)
The town was bombed but was then rebuilt and rose from the ashes like a/the phoenix (= was just as good as before).饱受轰炸的城镇得到了重建,就像凤凰涅槃重生一样。