DJBA unnecessarily separates into ציפתא and צפתא. Compare late Akkadian ṣippatu D, a type of reed. However, the at BT MQ 16b(23) one might instead consider the possibility of emending to צפיתא, i.e., "dais" or the like for the exilarch, the point of the episode being that he wanted to lower himself to better hear his colleague.